BELGIUM’s former Olympic uneven bars champion Nina Derwael said Tuesday she was retiring from gymnastics at the age of 25, having “achieved her goals” in the sport.
Derwael became the first Belgian women’s gymnast to win an Olympic medal four years ago in Tokyo, taking gold after twice being crowned world champion in the uneven bars.
“If I still wanted to play a significant role at world championships or Olympics, I would have to put my body under even greater and more prolonged pressure, a risk I no longer want to take,“ she said in a statement from her agency.
Derwael is a three-time European champion in the uneven bars and also won gold on the balance beam in Leipzig this year.
She finished fourth at the Paris Olympics in her favourite event after recovering from a serious shoulder injury.