Nina Derwael, Olympic gymnastics champion, retires
'I achieved what I wanted and was able to achieve,' Derwael, 25, said in a press release, according to a translation. 'I was able to prove what I was capable of.'
This past May, Derwael won her third European title on bars and her first on the balance beam, her first major championship medals since undergoing major surgery for a shoulder dislocation in September 2023.
'As a precaution, I'd only been able to train my final routine to the fullest a few times, and I was competing purely on experience,' she said. 'It made me realize that I can't do better. If I want to play a significant role at a World Championship (or the Olympics), I have to put even more and longer strain on my body, and I don't want to take that risk any longer. In recent weeks, my mind has increasingly asked: 'Isn't it enough? Is it worth risking my body?' To which I must finally conclude: it's been enough. It's even been very good.'
At the Tokyo Games, Derwael became the first Belgian gymnast to win Olympic gold and the first Belgian female gymnast to win an Olympic medal of any color.
In 2019, she was the only female gymnast other than Simone Biles to win an individual event at the World Championships. Derwael won bars, while Biles won balance beam, floor exercise and vault.
Derwael came back from her shoulder surgery to compete at a third Olympics in Paris. She placed fourth on bars, 34 thousandths of a point behind bronze medalist Suni Lee of the U.S.
Derwael married Thibau Dierickx last Saturday, according to their social media.
Nick Zaccardi,
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