May 21, 2011 – After Arianna Follis ended her professional cross-country racing career following the 2010/11 season another top level Italian skier has decided to hang up her cross-country skis. Marianna Longa has announced her retirement from World Cup racing.

Longa, 32 years old from Livigno, made her World Cup debut in 2000 in Bormio. In February 2005 Longa took a break to take care of her son Michele but returned to the World Cup circuit for the 2006/07 season. In fall 2007 Longa surprisingly announced her retirement from racing for personal reasons. However, almost a year later she was back on the Italian team and had a successful comeback at the World Cup in Lahti, Finland.

Longa kept up her winning momentum the following season and at the pre-2010 Olympic World Cup in Vancouver in 2009 she scored her first podium placing second in 15km Pursuit. One month later Longa claimed the silver medal at the Nordic World Championships in Liberec, CZE, in the women’s 10km Classic. During the 2009/10 Olympic season Longa was not in the best shape and the Italian skier left Vancouver without a medal.

In 2010/11, her final season, Longa delivered strong performance at the Tour de Ski claiming third overall. At the Nordic Wolrd Championships in Oslo, Norway, Longa did not score a medal but demonstrated strong skiing with three individual and two team top ten results.

Read more about Marianna Longa’s career on Wikipedia HERE.