Jessica Ennis-Hill retires from athletics - 'I want to leave my sport on a high and have no regrets'

London 2012 gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill has announced her retirement from athletics.

Ennis-Hill was the hero of the home Olympics four years ago, claiming gold in the heptathlon, and came close to doubling her tally in Rio earlier in the year, missing out to Nafissatou Thiam.

After the competition she had admitted that she was considering retirement but had also said that the lure of the World Athletics Championships in London next year were tempting her to continue.

In a statement on her Instagram page Ennis-Hill confirmed: “From my first world title in Berlin 2009 to Rio 2016 I'm so fortunate to have had such an amazing career within the sport I love and this has been one of the toughest decisions I've had to make.

“But I know that retiring now is right. I've always said I want to leave my sport on a high and have no regrets and I can truly say that.

“I want to thank my family and incredible team who have spent so much of their time supporting me and enabling me to achieve my dreams. Also a huge thank you to all those people who have supported and followed my career over the years.”

In addition to her gold at London 2012 Ennis-Hill retires with two World Championships crowns - Berlin 2009 and Beijing 2015, the latter won just over a year after she had given birth to her son Reggie and having competetd in just one heptathlon.

Ennis-Hill also won gold at the 2010 World Indoor Championships and the European Championships of the same year. She retires with the British and Commonwealth record for heptathlon score at 6,955 points.