Swiss Sliding have said goodbye to some of their leading athletes of recent years ©IBSF

A special "goodbye" ceremony will be held by Swiss Sliding to commemorate the retirement of some of their leading bobsleigh stars.

This includes Beat Hefti, considered one of the country's most successful Winter Olympians in recent years.

Hefti won four Olympic and six World Championship medals, including four-man gold on his home ice of St. Moritz in 2007.

He should still be formally upgraded to two-man gold at the Sochi 2014 Olympics following the doping-related disqualification of initial Russian winners Alexandr Zubkov and Alexey Voyevoda.

The 40-year-old driver is also a five-time overall World Cup champion.

Some of Switzerland's leading sliders are ending their careers ©IBSF
Some of Switzerland's leading sliders are ending their careers ©IBSF

Alex Baumann, the push athlete for Hefti in Sochi as well as in victorious European Championship winning sleds in 2014 and 2016, is among others retiring.

Female pilot Sabina Hafner is also ending her career for a second time after her comeback to compete at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics in February. 

She finished ninth in the South Korean county with Rahel Rebsamen after earlier winning three junior world titles.

Thomas Lamparter, a Turin 2006 Olympic four-man bronze medallist, is also departing his position as head of sports at Swiss Sliding.