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Arnd Peiffer breaks up, even the Olympics in Beijing are no longer an incentive for him.

The 33-year-old announced his retirement from biathlon on Tuesday, a year before the Winter Games in China, unpretentiously in eight short sentences.

“As you can be sure, this is not an easy decision after such a long time.

For me, however, it has long since emerged that the ideal time to quit has come after this season, ”wrote the native of Harz on Facebook.

After four-time world champion Simon Schempp (32), the Olympic sprint champion from Pyeongchang is the second long-standing top performer to end his career this season and leave a big gap in the team of national coach Mark Kirchner.

Arnd Peiffer sensationally won Olympic gold in singles at the Games in Pyeongchang in 2018

Source: Getty Images / Quinn Rooney

Shortly and painlessly, as he had always announced beforehand, Peiffer, known for his factual and self-critical analyzes, resigned two days before his 34th birthday.

“The spectrum ranged from sweet successes to bitter defeats and everything in between.

The sport and the experiences have shaped me, and I don't want to miss the experiences that I was allowed to gain, ”wrote Peiffer.

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At the season finale in Östersund, Sweden, which starts on Friday, he is no longer there for family reasons.

Maybe a gold medal will be added

Peiffer arrives at exactly the right time: he stops with a sense of achievement.

“This winter I was able to look forward to some good races and successes, and it is wonderful to stop with the feeling of still being competitive,” wrote Peiffer.

At the World Championships in Pokljuka, he won his 17th individual World Cup medal with silver, his first mass start victory at the World Cup in Hochfilzen and was on the podium a total of five times.

Since his World Cup debut in January 2009, he has won a total of five World Cup golds;

In addition to his Sprint Gold 2018, there was also one Olympic silver and one bronze medal and ten World Cups as an individual athlete.

Relay gold from Sochi could be added later for him as for Schempp if the victorious Russians were stripped of gold for doping.

The proceedings are ongoing.

They cheer him up: The 2018 Olympic victory was Peiffer's masterpiece

Source: Getty Images / Quinn Rooney

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"Arnd was not only one of our most important and consistent performers this winter, but also in recent years," says sports director Bernd Eisenbichler.

Peiffer was part of the national team for 13 winters, brought top results most of the time and will now be sorely lacking in the future.

DSV board member Karin Orgeldinger hopes that Peiffer will be able to “use his experience and expertise in some way”.

Friend of open words with a strong opinion

Peiffer not only impressed with his sporting achievements, but was also always a vocal critic, not only when it came to doping, but also when it came to sports politics and social issues.

He criticized the Olympia spectacle, which for him had long since lost its myth.

“The Olympics wouldn't be something that would motivate me to do a year longer, although I actually don't like it anymore,” he said recently.

Olympia - that is gigantism, no longer “designed for athletes, but for spectators.

This is a huge inflated event that is brutally marketed. ”Peiffer's performances and critical tones will be missing.