After an inspiring journey filled with resilience, grit, and unforgettable moments, three-time Olympian Rosie Brennan has announced the end of her World Cup cross-country skiing career at age 37. Brennan, a key figure in the most successful era for U.S. women's cross-country skiing, joins teammate Jessie Diggins in stepping away from the sport's highest level.
"I struggle with the word retirement because I hope to ski and race as long as I possibly can, but my time as a World Cup athlete has come to an end," Brennan wrote in a heartfelt statement. "I continue to battle my health with few answers, and that has taken a toll both physically and mentally. I dreamed of finishing on a high and on my own terms, and I feel some amount of disappointment that this isn’t that. But something that skiing has given me is a deep appreciation for challenging myself and finding joy in the process of learning, and this year provided plenty of that."
Brennan's final season was shadowed by a mysterious health struggle that began in late 2024. She dealt with achy joints, persistent soreness, and random cramps, and estimated she saw at least 10 to 12 doctors in search of answers. "Impossible to race as a cross-country skier if you can't really push hard," she said last August. "So it's been very strange. Possibly a post-viral thing. I've seen a million doctors. No one's really had an answer."
In her third Olympic appearance this past February, Brennan finished 15th and 37th in two individual races and helped the U.S. women's relay team secure a fifth-place finish. It was a bittersweet cap to a career defined by perseverance.
Brennan's path to the top was anything but straight. She was first persuaded to ski by her mom in eighth grade, after watching the 2002 Olympic competition in her native Park City, Utah, while school was out for three weeks. As a Dartmouth sophomore, she made her World Cup debut in January 2009. She was cut from the national team—and fought her way back to make her first Olympics in 2018. Then she was cut again, only to return and earn her spot for the 2022 Games.
In 2020, Brennan earned her first individual World Cup victory, a breakthrough that cemented her as a force on the international stage. Her career is a testament to the power of never giving up, even when the trail gets steep. While her time on the World Cup circuit has ended, Brennan's love for skiing and racing endures—and so does her legacy as one of the toughest athletes to ever lace up a pair of skis.