Double Olympian Aileen Reid has retired from competitive triathlon following a season plagued by injuries.
The 35-year-old announced on Twitter that she was quitting the sport just 12 months after her 21st place finish at the Rio Games.
"Illness and injury are inevitable in a sportsperson’s career and I am a fighter," she explained in her online statement. "But this fight got me.
"I wanted to end on a high, a positive, I wanted to stand on that podium one more time and it was my dream to hear Amhrán na bhFainn with the Tricolour (or Northern Ireland flag for that matter) flying in front of me.
"From time-to-time I remind myself that I was good once and not to give up. But the light is fading at the end of the tunnel and my belief that I would be able to overcome this injury and be the athlete I once was is disappearing.
"I don’t want to be half-good at anything, and so it’s time to wave the white flag.
"I’ve been through the stages of grieving, It’s a scary time leaving something behind, someone I was, something that I did that will probably define me forever. To leave people, memories, support and sponsors. The friends I have made along the way. But now, I’ve accepted it."
Reid was born in Donegal, raised in Derry and lived in Lisburn before she immigrated with her husband David to Australia’s Gold Coast following last year’s Olympics.
During her career she was consistently one of the world’s top-ranked female triathletes and finished on the podium at a number of prestigious International Triathlon Union (ITU) events, as well as representing Ireland and Northern Ireland on the national stage.
Reid says she hopes to pass on some of her knowledge to younger athletes, swimmers and triathletes, joking that she can hopefully stop them stumbling into some of the pitfall that marked her career.
"So there it is; 75 caps for Ireland, two Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, three years ranked in world top ten and a handful of medals in world series. Thanks for the memories," she concluded.
Reid's first Olympics ended in calamity when she crashed off her bike outside Buckingham Palace at the 2012 Games in London when she was rated as a medal prospect.
From her 75 ITU starts she won twice and finished on the podium 14 times, showing a great level of consistency.
She joins Bryan Keane, who represented Ireland in the men's triathlon at Rio 2016, who also retired earlier this year.
Olympic triathlon involves a 1,500m swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run.
Waving the white flag
— Aileen Reid (@aileenmorr) July 25, 2017
🏳 pic.twitter.com/9GG7AfglVM
