Olympic champion Hansdotter to retire after World Cup

Swedish slalom Olympic gold medallist Frida Hansdotter will retire after this month's World Cup finals, she announced on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old who denied Mikaela Shiffrin at the 2018 Games in South Korea has won three bronze and two silver world championship medals as well as a small globe in her preferred discipline since making her circuit debut as a teenager in 2004.

She finished in fifth place in the slalom and 11th in the giant slalom at February's world championships in Are.

"This season, I didn't feel the same hunger and motivation," she said in a statement.

"The Olympic Games in Pyeongchang and the World Championship at home were my main objectives during the last seasons and I didn't want to think about what came afterwards," she added.

"The last 15 years I travelled the world with skiing, pushing limits harder then I ever thought was possible, achieving great things, met amazing people on the way," Hansdotter posted on Instagram.

"But it's time for me to say goodbye to the World Cup circuit and start a new chapter in life," she added.

Her last race will be in Soldeu, Andorra between March 13-17 as she looks to improve on her career best silver at Beaver Creek in 2015.