Mika Kohonen is one of the foremost floorball players of all time, if not the foremost.
He has been named the world's best player more times than anyone else and has been one of the absolute world elite for over 20 years.
But now the player's career is over.
This time there will be no comeback after injury for the Finn.
- The decision has emerged.
After I injured my hamstring last year, I decided that I owe it to myself to give it a try.
I jumped in as a second coach in Strorvreta and trained daily as if I would play the following season.
But the fact is that the body is broken, says Kohonen and continues:
- It has always been clear to me that there will be no fairy tale ending, that I ride happily towards sunset.
Crying for two hours
Despite all the successes and a long career, it was not easy to quit.
- After the decision, it was a grief, for two hours I cried and called around to loved ones.
When the news comes out, a process begins to process the grief, heal, find new challenges and joy of life, he says.
During the first half of the 2010s, Kohonen suffered from a depression that had to do with injuries and the idea of no longer being an athlete.
"Many athletes end up in depression"
This time, he calls the uncertainty before ending "scary" and "a black hole".
But he feels better prepared than before.
- Every athlete who ends his career goes through a mourning work.
Very many athletes end up in depression and very many get problems in life.
And unfortunately, far too many do not find their way back either.
No matter how much money you have earned.
It is a tough period and since I have had depression before, you have to be careful with your body and brain.
You have to be able to brake before things get as deep as last time.
We will see what happens, but there I am at least more prepared than last time, says Kohonen.
Now he is an assistant coach in the top team Storvreta, but it is not obvious that this is where the future lies.
- For a while I will definitely work in sports.
In my head I have been an athlete until I made the decision.
Now that the world knows that I'm not playing anymore, we'll see what happens.
What thoughts and what opportunities you get.
See the whole feature with Mika Kohonen here:
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Floorball star Mika Kohonen quits