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Clark to retire from competitive skiing

David Sharp
The Associated Press
Aspen, CO Colorado
Three-time Olympic skier Kirsten Clark, 29, smiles during a news conference Monday, March 19, 2007 in Portland, Maine where she announced her retirement from competitive skiing. Clark, who is from Raymond, is the only skier to win four consecutive U.S. downhill titles. (AP Photo/Joel Page)
AP | AP

PORTLAND, Maine ” Three-time Olympian Kirsten Clark, the only skier to win four consecutive U.S. downhill titles, will retire after the alpine championships later this month.

Clark, who won her downhill titles from 1998-2001, plans to complete her 13-year career at the U.S. Alpine Championships in Alyeska, Alaska, which begin March 27.

“Thirteen years is a long time, and my body and my mind are telling me so,” the 29-year-old Clark said Monday.



In 2004, Clark had a serious crash in Austria, then overcame medical difficulties last season and finished this year’s World Cup season with another spill.

Clark was a silver medal in the super G at the 2003 World Championships.




The following year, her career nearly ended after she broke her wrist and tore ligaments in both knees during a crash in Haus, Austria.

In 2004, her career nearly ended crash in Haus, Austria, in which she broke her wrist and tore ligaments in both of her knees. Her World Cup season ended with a crash at Lenzerheide, Switzerland, where she won the downhill in 2001.

Clark competed in the Winter Games in Nagano in 1998, Salt Lake City in 2002 and Turin in 2006.