Tomaz Druml retires due to health issues

Slovenian-Austrian athlete Tomaz Druml has announced his career end. The 29-year-old had been struggling with heart problems in the last few years and just changed his nationality to Slovenian in order to continue his sports career. Now his health issues have flared up again, forcing him into retirement.

“The final diagnosis is that I am suffering from a heart condition, which doesn’t allow me to ski to the max anymore. Without risky surgical interventions I am not able to go back to normal anytime soon. However, the condition can regenerate in the course of years and sports on a normal level is possible and absolutely not dangerous for me, but high level sports is no longer an option. The consequence is that I am putting my health first and retiring from elite sports”, Druml wrote on his website.

He continued: “In retrospective I have to say that I was lucky to lead this lifestyle for so many years. It was filled with absolutely amazing moments and experiences, countless travels to places I would have never imagined visiting in my life, meeting absolutely amazing people and having fun all the way. I was able to reach many of my goals and I am very happy to have come this far without any bigger injuries.”

Druml started in 85 World Cup events and won the overall Continental Cup twice, in 2010 and 2014. He also has two Junior World Championship gold medals, with the team from Tarvisio 2007 and in the Sprint competition in Zakopane 2008.

He finished off, thanking his family, friends, supporters, coaches, staff and fans for their support. “I had the f...ing greatest time of my life, doing what I love and enjoying the demanding but also very rewarding lifestyle of a professional sportsman. Therefore, thank you all for making this possible - you rule!”