Double Olympic champion announces retirement at 36

I feel like I've been around the block of it in triathlon. I'm now 36. I've basically been a professional athlete since I was 18. So it's a long time over those years. The triathlon was very literally a a childhood dream for me to be a professional athlete. And I definitely achieved way, you know, way beyond anything I could imagine. So, you know, I feel like I've I've done all right and I'm on up on that form. Ultimately it just feels really right. And I know that's kind of a wishy washy kind of thing to say, but it does. And, and I'm really happy with it. And yeah, it's a combination of it's a combination of I have been doing it for a long time. I, I mean, there's so many other things in sport I want to be able to do, you know, I want to be able to do all kinds of endurance challenges. I want to stay fit and healthy and be part of sport, hopefully into my old age. And I'm definitely aware. I'm kind of, you know, putting the miles on the clock and wearing certain things down. So I wanted to retire fit and healthy, you know, and not be forced to retire by injury and an illness or whatever. It has got more difficult for me. I can't do anywhere near the training that I used to be able to do. So I also found it hard at times being on the start lines, knowing that I'm not prepared to the level that I'd like to be. And yeah, I mean, I'm Oldham, I'm 36. I've, I've done it for a long time and there's a lot of other things I want to do with my life. Winning 2 Olympic gold medals are the, the highlights. You know, I talk about especially that race in London, a lot of, you know, again, I've used this anecdotes many times, but I was a in school when London won that bid and it was seven years before the Olympic Games. And, and so that was a massive part of my life. And then to pull it off on that day was phenomenal. And then, and then do it again in, in Rio as well. But I think just as well, you know, success and and racing so many times over all those years. I actually did think of trying to look into it and see how many top level races I've done over all those years, but I haven't done it yet.