Petter Northug, Norway’s polarizing cross-country skier and arguably its most famous athlete, announced his retirement from the sport at age 32 in a tearful press conference Wednesday.
After being left off a 2006 Olympic team that earned zero gold medals, Northug became the face of the program’s rise back to dominance. He earned 13 world titles and four 2010 Olympic medals, plus World Cup overall titles in 2010 and 2013.
Northug barely competed last season, reportedly due to health issues, was left off the PyeongChang Olympic team and mostly struggled in lower-level races in November, which all put his top-level skiing future in doubt.