Dai Greene, a former 400-metre hurdles world champion who also won the European and Commonwealth titles, has retired from competitive athletics at the age of 38. The Welshman says coaching is his next goal and he has already assisted in mentoring other athletes.
Greene had tremendous success in the 400-metre hurdles as well as the 400-metre run; the only thing missing from his outstanding track career was an Olympic medal. The peak of his success was winning the 400-metre hurdles gold medal at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu after helping Great Britain win the silver medal in the 4×400-metre relay two years earlier in Berlin.
Greene won the 2010 European and Commonwealth titles, first capturing gold in Barcelona for Great Britain and then in Delhi for Wales.
On battling injuries
However, Greene was never able to reach such heights of achievement again due to a series of injury issues. In 2018, he claimed that difficulties with a hernia mesh had caused him to lose five years of his career. He was left bitter and frustrated after his surgery to fix a small hernia.
Greene said on social media: “Despite my best efforts over the past few years, I have been unable to participate in one more competitive season in the sport… The arrival of my daughter in December prompted my decision to stop trying to return to competition.”
He added: “My career can be seen as having two halves. By the age of 25 I had won everything in the sport except for the Olympics, yet I feel I never truly fulfilled my potential…. The years between 2013 and 2016 should have been dedicated to honing my skills and maximizing my talent, but a routine surgery gone wrong derailed those dreams… Subsequent corrective surgeries meant I was never able to return to my peak performance, though I occasionally caught glimpses of the athlete I once was.”
After 19 years of working together, Dina Asher-Smith announced on Instagram last week that she had split from coach John Blackie.
Blackie guides Smith to success
Smith noted at the bottom of her Olympics.com biography that she had wanted to be an Olympian since she was eight years old, stating, “When I was eight, I was asked what I wanted to be. I said: an Olympian.”
Guided by Coach Blackie’s mentorship, a young and aspiring Smith underwent a remarkable transformation, evolving into the fastest British sprinter in history. Her lifelong dream was ultimately realized at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Throughout her journey to the Olympics, Smith’s early career was marked by sensational performances, earning her medals at the Commonwealth, European, and World Championships. Coach Blackie was a constant source of unwavering support, standing by Smith through the ups and downs, ensuring she always gave her utmost effort in every challenge she faced.
In one article by The Guardian, coach Blackie was described as a mentor who had an ‘unerring knack of being a horse whisperer for Britain’s greatest female sprinter’.
Coach of the Year
In 2018, Smith was able to clinch four gold medals: three at the European Championships and one at the Commonwealth Games. In the following year, Blackie guided her to ascend to the top of the podium in the 200-meter event at the World Championships in Doha. Later that year, Blackie was named ‘Coach of the Year‘ at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards, and Smith was there to present him with the honor.
In his speech, Blackie said that training Smith had been a pleasure for him. Meanwhile, Smith also commended her coach, saying “John deserves this so much. I found out on Wednesday and I cried on the train.”
“He is so inspirational and so selfless.”
In 2021, Asher appeared for the second time at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, bringing home the bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay.
Dina Asher-Smith Parting ways with coach
However, good things all come to an end. In 2023, almost a month after her dismal eighth-place finish at the 100-meter event and seventh-place finish at the 200-meter event in August, Smith revealed the heartbreaking news of her split from coach Blackie. In her Instagram, she wrote:
“After 19 years, John Blackie and I have ended our coach-athlete relationship. My life changed by meeting him and I will be forever grateful to him. His intellect, patience and dedication has taken me from an energetic eight-year-old to a World Champion with over 20 international medals and many Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European finals. John and I will, or course, remain close friends.
Thank you to John and thank you to all my team in London whose talents and hard work have helped me realize so many dreams to date.”
After expressing her heartfelt gratitude to her former coach, she announced that she would now be training under Edrick Floréal
“My next chapter will be led by Edrick Floréal based out of Austin, Texas. I am very excited to join his talented training group as we head to Paris 2024. Sending lots of love, D”
Dina Asher-Smith will now be coached by Edrick Floréal in Texas, USA after 19 years with him! pic.twitter.com/qluRVasiyo
Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica has pledged to make a comeback after being forced to withdraw from the Olympics in Paris due to an Achilles ailment.
The athlete previously chose not to compete in the 200 metres at the Jamaican trials, which put an end to her hopes of pulling off the record “triple double” of winning the 100 and 200 metres in three straight Olympics.
After injuring her lower leg during the New York Grand Prix earlier this month, Thompson-Herah announced on social media her withdrawal from the Jamaican trials but said that she is determined to continue her track career.
The athlete said: “It’s a long road but I am willing to start over and keep working and to make full recovery and resume my track career. I am hurt and devastated to be missing the Olympics this year but at the end of the day it’s sports and my health comes first.”
“I will wait and I will still continue to work towards my goals that I haven’t achieved yet. I will be definitely watching hopefully from the stands and cheer my country Jamaica 🇯🇲 on,” she added.
On ending the historic ‘triple double’ Olympic wins
Thompson-Herah was hoping to lock down a spot in the 100-metre and relay teams, but she had already opted not to run in the 200-metre event at the trials. After becoming the first woman to win consecutive gold medals in the 100 and 200 metres in the Tokyo Olympics, she lost the opportunity to attempt an Olympic ‘triple double’ by winning the 100 and 200 metres in the next Games.
With a second-fastest 100-metre time of 10.54, just 0.05 slower than Florence Griffith-Joyner’s world record, and the third-fastest 200-metre time in history, she is undoubtedly a modern-day sporting legend in the field of athletics.
Thompson-Herah has had a difficult few years following Tokyo, and last year’s injury-plagued season largely cost her a spot at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. She came back for the 4×100-metre relay, but Jamaica won silver behind the United States, so she was not chosen for the final.
In the past, Thompson-Herah has experienced serious consequences from her Achilles injuries. She said the one-year Covid wait for the Tokyo Olympics helped her overcome the issue after she struggled to fifth place in the 100m at the 2017 World Championships and fourth place in 2019, after the Rio Olympics.
Keely Hodgkinson, the Olympic 800-metre champion, will be absent for the remainder of the 2024 track season due to her injury.
The 22-year-old athlete finished first in all nine of her 800-metre races in 2024, winning a gold medal in the Paris Games earlier this month. She was supposed to participate in September’s Diamond League finals in Brussels.
Announcing she won’t be participating in any more competition this year, Hodgkinson posted on social media: “No more races for me… Unfortunately I picked up a small injury, but we achieved everything I had hoped to do this year, thank you for all the love and support… See you on the track next year.”
Hodgkinson’s 2024 performance
In 2024, Hodgkinson successfully defended her 800-metre European title and set a new national best in July in the London Diamond League, clocking one minute, 54.61 seconds. Her goal is to surpass the more than forty-year-old 800-metre world record for women, which stands at 1:53.28.
In September 2025, Hodgkinson hopes to win her first World Championship championship in Tokyo after taking home silver in the previous two years.
Dafne Schippers announced her retirement from track and field at the age of 31.
On September 26, Schippers announced her retirement on Instagram with a heartwarming video, captioned with a message that says:
“The race stops here. As an athlete, you always know this day will come, that at one point, your career will be a moment in time—-a collection of memories and hopefully medals.
Today, I have decided to take my life off track to pursue and embrace whatever comes next, but not without saying a massive thank you for all the endless support. It has been a journey without regret.
My family, my team, my fans, and my sponsor, you made it all worthwhile.
X Dafne”
Schippers’ notable accolades over the years
The two-time Dutch champion Schippers departed the sport with a slew of awards under her belt.
Schippers’ original sport was the heptathlon, and in her years of competing in this discipline, she was met with a number of losses and successes, her most notable achievements being the gold medals that she won at the 2010 World Junior Championships and 2011 European Junior Championships. At the young age of 21, Schippers also went on to compete at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, where she also claimed bronze, cementing her place as the first Dutch woman to ever claim a medal in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships.
Besides heptathlon, Schippers also competed in other disciplines in track and field like long jump, 4×100 m relay, 60 m, 100 m and 200 m. In 2014, Schippers etched her name into history by winning the 100-meter and 200-meter events at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich.
In an illustrious career, she emulated Fanny Blankers-Koen, becoming the second Dutchwoman ever to claim victory in the 100-meter race. This monumental accomplishment led to a pivotal decision as she transitioned from heptathlon to focus on sprinting.
Merely a year after this career-defining shift, Schippers secured her second gold medal in the 200m event at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, outpacing Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah.
The subsequent year witnessed Schippers capturing her second gold in the 100 m race at the 2016 European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam, along with her maiden gold in the 4x100m relay. In the following year, she clinched her second 200m gold at the IAAF World Championships in London, achieving victory with a remarkable time of 22.05 seconds, narrowly surpassing Marie-Josée Ta Lou and Shaunae Miller-Uibo.
However, her years of success were hindered when she started to have injuries that hampered her performances. In 2019, she sustained an adductor injury during the semifinals, which forced her removal from the 200 m and 100 m final events at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. Her back injuries also restricted her from competing on the track, forcing her to take a break for more than a year.
Schippers was last seen competing at the 100 m event in the Guldensporenmeeting Kortrijk 2022, where she placed second in the heat of the event, clocking an 11.37 second time and placing second behind Jamaica’s Shashalee Forbes.
“My medals were scattered across my parents’ house and my own. In my athlete days, it was all about chasing the next medal. But now that I’ve chosen to retire, these medals carry a deeper meaning with intense memories. I counted 17 international senior medals, youth medals, honorable trophies and 22 national medals. Each medal has a story, and all the stories added up have found a new home. They finally deserve a trophy cabinet 😊✨”
David Weir, a six-time Paralympic champion, has announced his retirement from competing for Great Britain after placing fifth in the men’s T54 marathon on the last day of this year’s Paris Games.
The athlete admitted: “I’m quite emotional as I know it’s my last race for GB, this will be my last international… I knew before I came to Paris and I’ve been thinking about it all week. It’s the decision I want to do. It’s the right decision.”
The 45-year-old will still compete in the main international marathons, including London. In his athletic career, he won two golds in Beijing in 2008 before taking home four medals in London in 2012.
“I’ll still do the major marathons as I really enjoy them and I’ve got Berlin in two weeks,” Weir added.
Weir’s athletic journey
After making his debut in Atlanta as a young athlete in 1996, Weir competed in his seventh Games. Earlier in the programme, he placed eighth in the 5,000-metre final but was unable to get past the heats in the 1500-metre race.
After Rio 2016, he withdrew from international competition, claiming he had been accused of race-fixing and failing to earn a medal. However, he joined the team again and participated in the Tokyo marathon, finishing in fifth place. He then decided to race in Paris on the track and road.
Weir said: “My body just couldn’t cope with it today, to be honest… I was the oldest in that field today but still highly competitive. Daniel [Romanchuk, who finished fourth] is 20 years younger than me – I could be his dad – so I’m doing alright. I gave it my all today and that’s all I can give.”
He further remarked: “I’ll look back on my GB career with pride. I don’t really pat myself on the back. I should really. I should be proud of what I’ve done… “I’ve had a great career. I’m trying not to get emotional but it’s time. I think it’s time.”
