Surprise Retirement Just Before Biathlon Season – Austrian Top Athlete Ends Career at 28

Austrian biathlete Felix Leitner has announced that he is ending his career immediately. The decision comes as a major surprise and the timing is particularly unexpected, coming just weeks before the start of the Biathlon World Cup and the upcoming Olympic season.

Leitner, 28, shared the news on social media on Monday. The announcement shocked the biathlon world, as only in August he had expressed confidence in making a comeback after several challenging seasons and confirmed his goal of competing at the Olympics.



At his peak, Leitner finished 10th in the Olympics and 6th in the World Championships in individual events.

In the Biathlon World Cup, the Austrian talent never fully reached his potential. Across 196 World Cup starts, he reached the podium three times.

The news arrives just days before the International Biathlon Union’s (IBU) season-opening event, the Loop One Festival, which will take place on Sunday, 19 October in Munich. The official World Cup season, however, begins in Östersund at the end of November.

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