Former Olympic and world decathlon champion and long-time world record holder Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic announced on Friday he would quit over a lasting heel injury.
“Time is merciless,” said the 38-year-old athlete, the first in the world to score more than 9,000 points in the decathlon.
“I had problems all through my career, but these were intolerable,” he told reporters, adding that he would now take up golf.
Sebrle won silver at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney before climbing up to the top spot in Athens four years later.
He became world champion in Osaka in 2007 after taking two silver medals in 2003 and 2005.
In 2001, Sebrle set a new world record of 9,026 points in Gotzis, Austria. The record lasted until June 2012 when American Ashton Eaton broke it scoring 9,039 points.
Decathlon star Roman Sebrle bids farewell
