MADRID: Olympic 2016 women's high jump champion Ruth Beitia of Spain brought the curtain down on her long and successful career on Wednesday.
The 38-year-old three-time European champion first arrived on the scene in 1998 when she set a new Spanish record of 1.98 metres. She eventually increased that to the current record of 2.02 in an event in San Sebastian 2007, reports Xinhua news agency.
Her last appearance was in the 2017 World Championship when she was the first athlete to be eliminated from the finals, suffering from a shoulder injury and after attempting to return, she has now decided to retire.
Beitia commented she will now focus on her career in politics, where she is a member of the Cantabrian regional assembly for the People's Party, as well as studying to become a sports psychologist.