PRAGUE, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Czech decathlete Roman Sebrle, former world champion and gold medal winner at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, announced his retirement on Friday.
Sebrle, 38, said that he decided to end his career earlier (before the end of the season) over persisting heel pains.
Sebrle won a total of 18 medals in 15 years. Half of the medals were golds including the Olympic one and the gold from the 2007 world championship in Osaka, Japan. He was the first in the world to beat the 9000 point limit at a tournament in Goetzis, Austria, in 2001.
"Time is merciless. I suffered from troubles for all my career, but these (latest troubles) reached an unbearable extent. I could not do it any more, it is impossible to stop one's ageing," Sebrle said after announcing his retirment. "For the whole season I knew I'd have to say it, but I did not expect it to be so hard," he said.
In the past few years, Sebrle tackled health troubles, the worst of which prevented him from finishing the Olympic decathlon tournament in London in 2012.
Sebrle planned to complete his 50th and last decathlon contest with overcoming the 8000 point limit in this season. However, health troubles continued tormenting him during the winter training.
Sebrle will focus on golf now. He said he would like to take part in an Olympic golf tournament.
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