WESTERN suburbs gymnast Lauren Mitchell has announced her retirement from the sport at the age of 25.
The former Iona Presentation College student became the first Australian woman to win world championship gold when she top scored in floor routine at the 2010 World Championships in the Netherlands.
Mitchell, who has competed in two Olympic Games and two Commonwealth Games, said the decision to retire had not been easy.
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READ NOW“I have not made this decision lightly and with it comes a lot of sadness, but also immense pride in what I have achieved in this sport throughout the last 18 years,” she said.
She said her family had played an important role in her career, sacrificing things to support her gymnastics.
“I am the oldest in a family of four children. When I started at the WAIS gymnastics program, all my siblings had to wake up early and were in the car when mum would drop me off for morning training before school,” she said.
“My family have made many sacrifices, they have never complained about any of it.”
She said although she was retiring from competing she would remain active in the sport.
“With all big decisions comes a new chapter in someone’s life and this is no different for me. I love the sport of gymnastics and I will still be involved in some way, shape or form,” she said.