Two-time Olympic javelin champion Spotakova retires

Two-time Olympic javelin champion and world record holder Barbora Spotakova has ended her professional career at 41, the Czech Athletics Federation said on Friday.

Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic competes in the Javelin Throw Women during the Weltklasse IAAF Diamond League international athletics meeting at the Letzigrund stadium in Zurich, Switzerland, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. | Photo Credit: Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP

Two-time Olympic javelin champion and world record holder Barbora Spotakova has ended her professional career at 41, the Czech Athletics Federation said on Friday.

Spotakova, who won Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012 and bronze in 2016, last competed at the Diamond League meet in Zurich on Thursday.

“Every fairy tale has an end and mine had a beautiful happy end in the shape of the bronze medal from the European Championships in Munich” this year, said Spotakova.

“My body made it very clear that it was high time to quit,” she added on the Federation’s website.

Spotakova, who set the world record of 72.28 metres in 2008, won gold at the world championships in 2007, 2011 and 2017 and silver in 2009.

She took the European honours in 2014, adding a silver in 2006 and bronze in 2010 and this year.