“Now real life begins and I hope I’m ready for it”

Peter Fill is retiring from skiing at the age of 37 and has undoubtedly left his mark on the Ski World Cup. At his World Cup debut on March 7, 2002 at the final in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, at the age of 19, he was the junior world champion in the Super-G and immediately scored his first World Cup points with 12th place. At the 1 World Championships in Val d'Isere, Fill was named runner-up in the Super-G, behind the great Didier Cuche and ahead of Aksel Lund Svindal. In 2009 in Garmisch, Fill won the bronze medal in the Alpine combined behind world champion Svindal and his roommate Christof Innerhofer.

3 World Cup victories Peter Fill was on the podium 22 times in the World Cup and celebrated 9 World Cup victories over a period of 3 years. His debut victory in the downhill race in Lake Louise in 2008 was followed by a long dry spell, until his downhill victory in 2016 on the infamous Streif in Kitzbühel. Fill last won the Super-G in Kvitfjell in 2017.

Winner in Kitz, Arnold Schwarzenegger congratulated © APA/afp / SAMUEL KUBANI

3 crystal balls After almost 18 years in the Ski World Cup, Peter Fill won 3 small crystal balls, making him the second best South Tyrolean after Gustav Thöni (4 large balls, 5 small balls). In the 2015/16 season, Fill won the Downhill World Cup and was able to successfully defend the ball in 2016/17 - without winning the World Cup. In the 2017/18 season, the Castelrotto native won the Alpine Combined World Cup.

Cheers over crystal ball number 2 © APA / HANS KLAUS TECHT

At his farewell race in Garmisch, Peter Fill waved to his trainers on the Kandahar route and was honored with a standing ovation by the audience at the finish. His teammates and companions gave the Juventus fan a beer shower before Fill was hugged by his wife Manuela and the children.

“It was an extremely difficult situation for me, I just wanted to finish. Emotions came up in the starting house, I had tears in my eyes,” explained Fill in an interview with ORF. Fill couldn't have imagined the farewell better; around 10.000 ski fans came to the finish stadium in fantastic weather. “Thank you to everyone who has accompanied me in the World Cup for almost 20 years, but especially to my family,” said Fill, who has not given any thought to his immediate professional future: “My heart belongs to skiing, but now I need one Time out. After that, I’m open to anything.” At the end there was a sentence that perfectly describes the humble and down-to-earth Peter Fill: “Now real life begins and I hope I’m ready for it.”

The descent in Garmisch ended with a home win for Thomas Dreßen.

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“Now real life begins and I hope I’m ready for it”

One of the best skiers in the entire World Cup circuit ended his career on Saturday. Peter Fill from Castelrotto left the starting gate for the 355th time during the descent in Garmisch and had tears in his eyes.

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