Maddie Bowman, who was the first Olympic halfpipe skiing champion, is announcing her retirement from the sport. Bowman recently turned 26 years old and doesn't plan on competing in the 2022 Olympics.

Bowman won a gold medal at the 2014 games in Sochi.

"I've really given the sport everything I could that was positive, and I knew the sport would be in great hands when I walked away," Bowman told NBCSports. "So I decided it was my time to be done.

"I just felt like I couldn't give anything else to the sport because I was a little bit afraid [of injury], but also it's mentally exhausting. It drained my mental health for sure, but I loved doing it, and I still love skiing. Competition just isn't for me anymore."

Bowman had been contemplating her retirement since last year. The California native did participate in the Winter X Games for the final time and earned fifth place. Bowman revolutionized the sport during her career, as she earned medals in each of the last seven years, including five gold medals.

Bowman did undergo two major knee surgeries during that time, which likely factored into her decision.

"I was thinking [last year] that this is really hard, and I don't know if I want to keep doing this," Bowman added. "It was really hard for me to get into the right mental state again. It's painful. My knees hurt, but I was torn. I was torn between wanting to walk away and the love I had for the people I was around, people I competed against and just the lifestyle. I worked really hard on opening up other doors for myself besides skiing, which is making my transition a lot smoother."

The American skier contemplated retirement leading up to the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, but ultimately competed and finished in 11th place.