Norwegian snowboarder Silje Norendal, an X Games champion and 2019 World silver medalist in slopestyle, is pregnant and retiring 14 months before the Winter Olympics.
“It’s with a lot of different emotions I am posting this!” was posted on her Instagram without mentioning retirement or pregnancy, which was separately confirmed by Norway’s snowboard federation. “Mostly happy and excited for what’s to come, a new journey in my life. Snowboarding has been a huge part of my life for 22 years and I am looking back on an amazing journey.”
Norendal, 27, went into slopestyle’s Olympic debut in 2014 as the reigning X Games champion and a medal favorite.