Australia’s most decorated Olympian, Emma McKeon, announced her retirement from all forms of swimming on Monday, bringing an end to a glittering career in which she won 14 medals at three Olympics and 20 at world championships.
The 30-year-old sprinter had signaled her retirement earlier this year at the Paris Olympics after winning a gold, silver ,and bronze in relays to help Australia to its most successful Summer Games.
“I will miss it … It’s brought me a lot of great relationships and shaped me into the person I am,” McKeon said in the statement confirming her retirement.
“But I’m ready for the next part of my life, which I’m excited for. I don’t think I’ve had the time to reflect on everything yet.”
McKeon missed out on the London Olympics as a teenager but hit her stride in Rio in 2016 where she won her first gold in the 4×100 metre relay as well as silvers in two other relays and a bronze in the 200m freestyle.
In Tokyo in 2021, she won the 100m and 50m freestyle sprint titles which, along with two relay golds and three bronze medals, gave her the biggest medal haul for a single athlete at the delayed Games.
