Emma McKeon: Australia’s most decorated Olympic announces retirement from swimming
Australia’s most decorated Olympian, swimmer Emma McKeon, has retired from the sport
The 30-year-old has won 14 gold medals, including six gold medals, at three Olympics.
“I’m officially retired from competitive swimming,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Going into Paris knowing this would be my last Olympics, the months since have given me time to reflect on my journey and think about what I want my swimming future to look like.
“I’m proud of myself for giving everything, physically and mentally, to my swimming career.
“I wanted to see what I could do — and I did it.”
McKeon won three relay medals and an individual bronze medal in the 200m freestyle at the inaugural Olympics in Rio in 2016.
She then won 4 gold medals out of 7 medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She won 11 medals at the time, meaning she surpassed the Australian record of nine medals set by Ian Thorpe and Lesser Jones.
McKeon won three more Olympic medals at the 2024 Paris Games.
“Now I’m excited to see how to push myself in other ways and deal with everything in life,” she added.
Australian swimming coach Rohan Taylor said: “She always behaved with dignity and although we all saw her grace, the public could not really understand her strength.”
