Five-time Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder Missy Franklin announced her retirement from swimming in an impassioned letter to ESPN.com on Wednesday, citing chronic shoulder pain that has ravaged her body and psyche over the last years of her career.
“It took me a long time to say the words, ‘I am retiring.’ A long, long time. But now I’m ready,” she said.
“I’m ready to not be in pain every day. I’m ready to become a wife and, one day, a mother. I’m ready to continue growing each and every day to be the best person and role model I can be. I’m ready for the rest of my life,” Franklin wrote.
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