Jan 16 (Reuters) - Three-time ‌Olympian Belle Brockhoff announced her retirement ‌from snowboard cross on Friday just weeks ‌ahead of the Milano Cortina Winter Games after being told by doctors her injury history made it too ‍much of a risk.

The 33-year-old, ‍who finished fourth in ‌the event at Beijing four years ago, was ‍the ​first Australian woman to win a World Cup gold medal in snowboard ⁠cross, amassing 17 World Cup podium ‌finishes during her career.