Four-time Olympic skier Kiminobu Kimura said Thursday he will retire at the end of this season.
"I just feel like crying at the moment, but it's important to make difficult decisions at the right time," said Kimura, who will bow out after Saturday's World Cup slalom race in Shiga Kogen on Saturday.
Kimura, who made the first of four straight Olympic appearances at Albertville in 1992, became the first Japanese skier to earn a World Cup podium finish when he came third in the men's slalom in Veysonnaz, Switzerland, in January 1998.