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O'Hanlon retires after silver win in Rio

Australian Paralympic sprint star Evan O'Hanlon is calling it quits after he missed out on a third consecutive title in the men's 100m at Rio.

Australia's Evan O'Hanlon
Paralympic sprinter Evan O'Hanlon will retire after he was denied a hat-trick of gold medals in Rio. (AAP)

Australia's all-time fastest Paralympian Evan O'Hanlon is hanging up his running shoes after he was denied a hat-trick of gold medals in Rio.

The 28-year-old had tasted nothing but gold his entire Paralympic career until Tuesday (Wednesday AEST), when China's Jianwen Hu smashed O'Halon's world record in the men's T38 100m, relegating him to silver.

Hu took an impressive lead from the first 30m and only increased the gap, clocking in a new world best of 10.74 seconds while Brazil's Edson Pinheiro came in third.

"I'm probably a little bit in shock. This is the first time I've been beaten on the international stage since probably 2006," O'Hanlon said.

The five-time Paralympic gold medallist announced his retirement immediately after the race, and said his first priority was now his family.

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"I got married in December and my beautiful wife's waited until now to be able to have our honeymoon," he said.

"We want to start a family, and to give them the best start in life I think I'm going to have to step away from the track, regrettably."

O'Hanlon and his wife Zuzana, a former Olympic race walker herself, run their own coffee shop together in Canberra.

"She's retired from the life of an athlete and still has to live it vicariously through me. I think that's a pretty tough job," he said.

The six-time world champion said he and his family can't live off the funding he receives as an athlete without having another job.

O'Hanlon, who has cerebral palsy, didn't have a good lead up to the blue riband event.

He suffered a calf cramp in his heat the previous day and spent the night tossing and turning in pain.

"Then coming out onto the start line now, my tape measure broke so it meant I couldn't measure out my blocks. I just had to guesstimate," O'Hanlon said.

Adding to the tension at the beginning of the final, Colombia's Weiner Javier Diaz Mosquera was disqualified for a false start.

"I'd like to think that I'm mentally tough enough that that's not going to affect me," he said.

"It's just not my Games."

O'Hanlon also ruled out contesting his upcoming 400m race in Rio due to his calf complaints.

"That's the last time you'll see me on the track for the Paralympics," he said.


3 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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