Kaitlyn Farrington, the American snowboarder who pulled off one of the biggest surprises at the Sochi Olympics, is retiring because of a degenerative spine condition.
The 25-year-old raised in Bellevue, Idaho, won the gold medal on the halfpipe last year, defeating previous champions Torah Bright and Kelly Clark.
Farrington, whose family sold horses from their ranch to bankroll her career, fell while riding last October and went numb.
An MRI revealed she had congenital cervical stenosis, a narrowing of the spine that would leave her susceptible to paralysis if she keeps competing in snowboarding.
“It’s taken me these few months to come to terms with my diagnosis and the fact that I must retire from competitive halfpipe snowboarding,” Farrington said on Instagram.