Ragnhild Mowinckel leaves with a smile, a teammate is sad. © APA / BARBARA GINDL

“She meant everything to me”: resignation triggers sadness

Before the home World Cup in Kvitfjell, Norway's model skier Ragnhild Mowinckel announced her retirement. This caused great sadness in her designated successor.

28. February 2024

From: leo

Ragnhild Mowinckel is a pioneer for women's skiing. She became the first Norwegian woman to win a medal at the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang since 1936. She took silver in both the downhill and giant slalom. This year she won her first downhill World Cup victory in Cortina. The decision, to resign after the end of the current season, had already met the 31-year-old before.

“I always told myself that I wanted to step down at the top, so now was the time to do it,” Mowinckel told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. While the athlete from Molde is now looking forward to a new phase of life (and her wedding), a teammate is feeling great sadness. “She has meant everything to me since I joined the national team five years ago. She was my big sister,” explains Kajsa Vickhoff Lie, who became a world-class athlete in Mowinckel’s shadow and became the first Norwegian to win a World Cup downhill in Kvitfjell last year. “I just followed her and learned as much as I could.”

Lie loses her teacher

Lie then fought back tears in a press interview when she was asked how she would spend the last few weeks with Mowinckel. “I shouldn't cry. We'll just enjoy the last few days. “I have to take what she taught me and pass it on,” says Lie, aware of her new role as the new leader within the Norwegian team.

Kajsa Vickhoff Lie regrets Ragnhild Mowinckel's resignation. © APA / BARBARA GINDL

Mowinckel wants to ensure a crowning conclusion in front of her home crowd before she finally puts her skis away at the World Cup final in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. “I think eight-year-old Ragnhild would be very proud of 31-year-old Ragnhild. She had dreams that I believe we achieved together,” is the closing statement of the Norwegian, who will be remembered not only for her successes, but above all for her style, which made her the most popular athlete in the ski circus .