Overview

• Leitner announced his retirement on October 13 via Instagram, closing a 16-year professional career.
• His résumé includes multiple junior world titles, the 2018 European individual crown in Ridnaun, and a World Cup mass-start podium in Oberhof in 2021.
• He ended last season early due to physical and mental challenges, lost his ÖSV squad status, and trained privately with former coach Florian Steirer.
• Despite a promising fifth place at the City Biathlon in Dresden in August, he had recently set goals for the upcoming Olympics and the 2028 Hochfilzen Worlds.
• Austria loses an experienced international, with 42-year-old Simon Eder now the lone established top-level presence on the team.