Sebastian Kienle announces retirement
"It's coming to an end" German world champion says of his triathlon career
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
“I want to enjoy the next two years to the absolute fullest,” Sebastian Kienle said in a video posted on YouTube yesterday, announcing that he would be retiring from the sport at the end of 2023. “I am going to do another two years in the sport and then I am done.”
Acknowledging that he’s had a lot of moments over the last few years where he’s just wanted to quit, Kienle said that “especially after I decided to drop out of Challenge Roth, I need some sort of a finish line.”
“I always wanted to retire from the sport with a clear finish line and this finish line will be at the end of 2023,” he continued.
Kienle says he would like to earn another world title next year, and then plans on ending his career in 2023 with some bucket list events.
“2023 will be a farewell world tour,” he said. “I’m going to do a few races that I haven’t done before and see a couple of places I wanted to see again, then that’s it, I will not do another triathlon after 2023.”
Determined to continue to enjoy the active lifestyle, Kienle envisions doing some swim/ run events and some gravel bike races.
Kienle is one of the most popular pros on the circuit, renowned for his candour and humour during interviews, press conferences and award ceremonies. The 2014 Kona champion won the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2012 and 2013. He won the Ironman European title three times – in 2014, 2016 and 2017, and took the Challenge Roth title in 2018.
