Anna Veith expected to announce retirement Saturday

Over the past week, two-time Overall World Cup winner Anna Veith, formerly known as Anna Fenninger, announced she will go live from Schladming on ORF at 6:55 pm CET on Saturday, May 23 to discuss her future. Rumors have been circulating among European media sources that Veith will use the opportunity to officially announce her retirement.

After earning two crystal globes, three Olympic medals, and five World Championship medals, Veith could walk away from the sport at 30-years-old having had a more than a successful career. She has previously considered retirement since undergoing her third knee surgery in January of 2019 but chose to continue to fight. Unfortunately, the Austrian ski star was never quite capable of returning to her peak form. Her best result in recent years was a seventh-place finish in the 2020 Rosa Khutor super G.

Her scheduled announcement is reminiscent of Marcel Hirscher’s retirement announced in August of 2019. Also an ’89 Austrian athlete, Hirscher chose to close his career on his own terms via a press conference in Vienna. Prior to his announcement, the media circulated headlines that insinuated he would choose to publicly retire before his official statement was made. Veith is experiencing similar speculation and will take to a Livestream to clarify in a conversation with Austrian journalist Alexandra Meissnitzer.

“After her third comeback in four years, Olympic champion Anna Veith recalls the past season,” reports from Austrian media wrote on the matter. “A very personal exchange of ideas about her hard way back, her dreams, and her plans for the future.”

The call will be broadcast live on ORF1 and can also be streamed on the Internet here.