Liu Xiang, China's Olympic gold-medalist hurdler, has announced his retirement from professional sport on account of persistent injury.
Xiang became the first Chinese man to win an Olympic gold medal in track by bagging the top prize in the 110m hurdles in Athens in 2004.
Additionally, the Chinese top track and field star held the world record in 2006 with a time of 12.88 seconds, and subsequently went on to add a world title next year.
Xiang, who has been battling an Achilles problem since 2008 Beijing Olympics, said in his blog that he was retiring , adding that he wanted to start a new journey, the BBC reported.
Xiang is widely regarded in China as popular basketball player Yao Ming and tennis star Li Na, who have also recently retired.