Magdalena Forsberg

Forsberg, who was thirty-four in Salt Lake City, announced before the Olympics that she would retire at the end of the season that year. She did, but not before sweeping all of the World Cup titles for the second year in a row and winning eight of the twenty-two World Cup races held that season. After clinching her final World Cup, the mass-start, in the last World Cup race she would ever compete in, Forsberg reflected, "You have to stop one day. It was a perfect place to end my career. But I felt sad in the morning and tears came into my eyes when I dressed before the race."