The National Times - Australian snowboarder Brockhoff quits ahead of Winter Olympics

Australian snowboarder Brockhoff quits ahead of Winter Olympics


Australian snowboarder Brockhoff quits ahead of Winter Olympics
Australian snowboarder Brockhoff quits ahead of Winter Olympics / Photo: © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Australian snowboarder Belle Brockhoff announced her retirement Friday just weeks away from the Winter Olympics with a series of major injuries forcing her out.

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The three-time Olympian came fourth in snowboard cross at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and the 33-year-old was hoping to again compete at Milan-Cortina in February.

But she suffered a gruesome fracture of her wrist in late 2024, then crashed heavily at the end of a World Cup race in Georgia in March last year.

That incident saw her airlifted to hospital with pins and rods inserted into her back for a fractured vertebra.

"I've been rehabbing a complicated compound fracture in my wrist and a fractured L1 vertebra in my spine," Brockhoff said on Instagram.

"I've rehabbed and trained hard for many months, and I know my body's limits.

"It is with this and more than 20 years of snowboarding that I know in my heart it is time to step away from competitive racing."

E.Cox--TNT