One of the longest careers in U.S. ski racing history came to quiet end when Erik Schlopy veered off a giant slalom course in France and just stopped.
That's when the three-time Olympian realized he wanted to be around his family — wife Summer Sanders, a former Olympic swimmer who's now a TV broadcaster, and his two young children — more than he wanted to race.
"It was just a thunderstruck moment," Schlopy, 36, recalled. "I said, 'Time to go home."'
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At 36, Schlopy first made the U.S. Ski Team in 1991. He already had a much longer run than most athletes. His goal of reaching a fourth Olympics seemed much less significant than being at home with his wife and two young children. So that was it. No last run. No World Cup farewell.