Dave Ryding, Britain’s first Alpine skiing World Cup winner and one of the nation’s greatest winter sports athletes, has announced he will retire at the end of the 2025-26 season. The 38-year-old has spent a decade competing at the elite level, earning seven World Cup podiums, including six in slalom and one in parallel slalom.
Ryding’s career highlight came in 2022 when he made history by winning the slalom event in Kitzbühel. This victory marked the first-ever World Cup win by a British skier in the competition’s 55-year history. Over his career, he became one of only four British skiers to reach the World Cup podium, with his most recent podium finish a third place in Madonna di Campiglio in December 2023. Additionally, he has placed in the top 10 at three World Championships and two Olympic Games.
The Lancashire native described his decision to retire as a “natural” step. He expressed a strong desire to finish on a high note after recording his best World Championships result with a sixth place in slalom at the 2024-25 event in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria. His goal is to match or improve that result at the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Speaking to The Independent, Ryding reflected on his career and the challenges of staying competitive with younger athletes. “After the last Olympics, I said I’d rather cry than do another four years or have a divorce or something like that,” he said. “I wasn’t sure I’d get another four years out of myself. As you get older, the younger guys catch you up and you naturally peter out. But I took it year by year, giving it my all each season.”
Despite the challenges, Ryding’s passion for the sport remained strong. Considering the upcoming Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, he felt the time was right to announce his final season. “It was quite an easy decision, especially thinking about my family and the sacrifices they make while I’m away,” he said. “It felt good to draw a line, give it my all again, and then try to perform my best at the Olympics.”
Ryding has competed in seven World Championships and will make his fifth Olympic appearance in Milan-Cortina. Unlike many elite Alpine skiers, he trained on dry slopes in the UK during his youth before transitioning to snow in his twenties.
He debuted on the World Cup circuit in 2009 and remains Britain’s highest-ranked Alpine skier.
His best Olympic finish so far was ninth place in the slalom at Pyeongchang in 2018. He plans to compete in the final World Cup events of the 2025-26 season after the Olympics but aims to close his career on a high note. “Whether that’s number one or eighth, we’ll see,” he said. “But I want to be better than ninth and finish with my best Olympic result. That’s exactly where my mind is — to do my very best.”