Ted Ligety wanted to retire on his own terms. His back won’t allow it.
The 36-year-old American ended his ski racing career immediately on Saturday, six days before his planned farewell giant slalom at the world championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
“Yesterday, I woke up to the worst sciatic pain of my life,” was posted on Ligety’s social media. “I can’t point to anything that triggered it but I had been experiencing low grade sciatica for a week or two which was ‘normal’ for me on occasion for the last several years. An MRI revealed my discs at L4-5 and L5-S1 are herniated to the point it’s not safe to ski right now.