Retired ski star Matthias Mayer is struggling with "health problems," Austria's ski association said, following media reports that the triple Olympic champion was arrested for causing a ruckus at a reception.
Police arrested Mayer on Thursday at a hotel in the glitzy Alpine resort of Kitzbuehel, where the ski World Cup races are taking place from Friday, reports said.
A police spokesman confirmed to AFP that an arrest was made but declined to confirm the person's identity.
"The person behaved in an inappropriate manner," the spokesman said on Friday, describing it as a "minor incident" that was not expected to lead to any criminal charges.
The Austrian has already been released, he added.
"Today we regret to note that Matthias Mayer has not yet overcome the health problems he has been struggling with for a long time," Ski Austria said in a statement late Thursday.
It declined to give further details out of "respect" after consulting with Mayer's family.
Mayer, 33, abruptly announced his retirement in December 2022 but had not ruled out a comeback.
In February last year, he said he would consider a return if he rediscovers his "passion" for the sport.
Mayer has been working as a consultant to Ski Austria, whose secretary general Christian Scherer told public broadcaster ORF that the association would continue to support him and keep "a close eye on his recovery".
Mayer made his World Cup debut in Sestriere in February 2009 and went on to rack up 11 World Cup victories and 45 podiums.
His greatest successes, however, came at the Olympics where he outstripped his father Helmut Mayer's achievement of a silver medal in the 1988 Games in Calgary.
Mayer won gold in the downhill in Sochi in 2014 and followed that with further Super-G golds in Pyeongchang in 2018 and Beijing in 2022, when he also won a downhill bronze.
