Snowboard champion Benjamin Karl reverses retirement

Double Olympic champion Benjamin Karl will continue his snowboard career after announcing a surprise reversal of his retirement on Tuesday, ORF reported. The 40-year-old from Wilhelmsburg plans to return with new goals.

After winning at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, Karl had planned to pursue cycling and had considered competing in Olympic cyclocross. Over the summer, however, several unexpected developments strengthened his feeling that he was fundamentally a snowboarder who enjoyed cycling, he said.

The five-time world champion also said his view of professional snowboarding had changed. Recent experiences had reminded him not to take anything for granted and had renewed his appreciation for the support he had received throughout his career.

Karl said he was looking forward to continuing in the sport he knew best. His next major goal is the home World Championships in Montafon, the host location, next March.

Christian Galler, the Austrian Ski Federation’s sporting director for snowboarding, said recent conversations had left him with the strong impression that Karl still had more to achieve as an alpine snowboarder.