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Injuries have forced Olympic gold medallist Chelsea Hodges to quit swimming just two months before the Paris Games.
Hodges, a breaststroker who was part of Australia’s gold-medal winning 4x100m medley relay team at the Tokyo Olympics, has been battling ongoing hip injuries.
“It’s with a very heavy heart I announce my retirement from competitive swimming,” the 22-year-old posted on Instagram.
“It’s been a challenging 18 months and retiring now is not how I hoped this chapter of my life would end, however I believe I’ve made the right decision.
“I had to make the decision to retire or ruin my chance to be as fit and as healthy as I would like in my future.
“Ultimately I have to do what’s best for my future and listen to what my body has been desperately trying to tell me.”
After her Olympic relay triumph, Hodges broke the Australian record for the 50m breaststroke at the Australian selection trials for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
She lowered that benchmark at the Birmingham Games where she won bronze in 30.05 seconds.
Hodges, sidelined last year after having surgery on a torn cartilage in her right hip, entered last month’s Australian titles but didn’t race.