Owen Sound native Larisa Yurkiw is retiring from alpine skiing after finishing the best season of her career.
Yurkiw finished third overall on the World Cup downhill circuit.
In a post on Facebook, Yurkiw admitted the move likely comes as a surprise to many. Yurkiw suffered a "career-ending injury" six years ago but came back to compete at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. She described not being able to put her socks without her heels fixed to the ground during the Games. She recently underwent her fifth surgery on what she call's her good knee.
In her post last night she wrote: "I know in my heart, after yet another operation, health has the final say. I do not have the health to test the limit any longer."
Yurkiw thanked everyone involved in Team Larisa for the support and commitment that made her third place finish possible. She is already looking to the future, launching larisaspeaks.ca. She'll be taking on a number of speaking engagements and says she'll be renegotiating current partnerships for future ambassadorship.
