Berchtesgaden (PMA) - After 26 years of competing as a professional luge athlete for the Italian squad Anton Blasbichler has announced the end of his career. The 43-Year-Old from South Tyrol was the only athlete in the entire World Cup field who was still active and participated at the first Natural Track World Cup in 1992 in Finland. In his long and successful career Blasbichler won several events. In 1993 he surprisingly finished first at the European Championships in Stein an der Enns. On the same track he became World Champion in 2001 for the first time in his career. Four years later he won again the Gold Medal in front of his home crowd in Latsch. Blasbichler celebrated 20 World Cup wins and finished 53 times on the podium. Only current World Champion Patrick Pigneter was more successful in the all-time-statistics. In the last years he was also active as FIL’s athlete representative for the Natural Track. Anton Blasbichler wishes to remain faithful to his sporting roots and wants to work as a coach in the upcoming years. Career-Highlights: World Champion Men’s Competition 2001, 2005 World Champion Team Competition 2001, 2009, 2011 European Champion Men’s Competition 1993, 1999 Overall World Cup Winner (1995/96, 1996/97, 2003/04, 2004/05) 16 Medals at major events 20 World Cup wins 53 World Cup podiums (51 at Singles, 2 at Doubles)