Australia's most decorated Olympian McKeon retires from competitive swimming

SYDNEY, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The most decorated Olympian in Australian history, Emma McKeon, on Monday announced her retirement from competitive swimming effective immediately.

McKeon owns an Australian record of 14 Olympic medals, including six golds, across three Summer Olympic Games.

The 30-year-old had previously said that the 2024 Games in Paris would be her final Olympics but had not said if she would continue to compete at other events.

"I am proud of myself for giving my swimming career absolutely everything, both physically and mentally," she said in a statement posted on social media. "I wanted to see what I was capable of and I did."

Apart from her tally of 14 Olympic medals, McKeon's six gold medals are also a national record.

Of those medals, seven - including four golds - were won at the Tokyo Olympics. It is the single biggest medal haul won by a female swimmer at any Olympics and the equal-most medals won by a female in any sport at a single Olympics.

Rob Woodhouse, chief executive of Swimming Australia, said in a statement that McKeon would be remembered as a great of the sport.

"From a personal point of view, watching her Tokyo campaign and in particular watching her win gold in the 100m freestyle was one of the greatest races I have ever watched, but I have also loved watching her advocate for those coming up through the ranks," he said. ■