By Canadian Press

Canada’s Dominique Maltais announces retirement from competitive snowboarding

Dec 6, 2016 | 6:15 AM

Snowboarder Dominque Maltais announced her retirement Tuesday, even if she feels she can still compete at a high level.

The two-time Olympic medallist has been dogged by back and knee injuries in recent years and decided it was time to move on to new things.

“I did everything possible to recover and maybe get back to a competitive level,” Maltais said from Quebec City. “Health has always been the key question for me but, physically, time catches up to you.

“And even if there were other factors that weighed on my decision, I wanted to be sure I could live an active life and keep participating in sports in the years ahead.”

Maltais, 36, first made her mark by winning a bronze medal in snowboardcross at the 2006 Turin Olympics. She also won silver at the 2014 Sochi Games.

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She took silver at the 2013 world championships in Stoneham, Que., and bronze at the 2011 worlds in Spain. Maltais, from Petite Riviere St. Francois, Que., also reached the podium 38 times — winning 15 gold medals — at 77 World Cup events.

She took the Crystal Globe as the season’s top snowboardcross racer on five occasions. 

“I feel I accomplished all the objectives I set as an athlete,” she said. “I was able to stay at the top for many years. I’m very proud of that.”

Her medal at the Turin Games remains a career highlight.

“That was my first Olympic experience,” she said. “That’s when I discovered the media impact that an Olympic medal brings.”

If that was the best, her experience four years later at the Vancouver Olympics was the toughest. Expected to win a medal, Maltais suffered a bruised lung in a crash on the morning of her competition and wasn’t able to reach the finals.

“It hurt, but that setback helped me grow as an athlete,” she said. “After that I had the best performances and results of my career.”

Maltais plans to work with high school athletes near Quebec City, do some public speaking and work as a personal fitness trainer.

Marc Delbes, The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected sotry. A previous version stated Maltais took the Crystal Globes as the top skier.