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Jessie Knight. Getty Images for British Athletics
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The primary school teacher turned Olympian, Jessie Knight, has announced her retirement from athletics.
The 400m hurdler has made the decision to hang up her spikes having represented Great Britain for a final time at the Paris Olympics this summer.
The Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow athlete (WSEH) competed for Team GB at two Olympics and won five British titles over both 400m and the 400m hurdles.
Knight, 30, shared the news on Instagram on Monday, saying: “The time has come to say goodbye to competitive sport. “Having competed since I was eight years old, I finally got my first GB call up aged 26.
“Since then, I have represented my country in two Olympic Games, two World Championships, two European Championships, one Commonwealth Games, two World Indoor Championships and one European Indoor Championships.
“I have a relay medal from Worlds, Indoor Worlds and European Indoors. I have also won two indoor 400m British titles and three 400m hurdle outdoor titles.”
She added: “The 26-year-old primary school teacher couldn’t have predicted what was going to happen over the following four years.
“It has been far from easy at times, but I am walking away with the fondest of memories, experiences of a lifetime, lessons learnt and some very special people to add to my circle.
“The Olympic Games in Paris was the perfect ending for me. I ended my career on the biggest and best stage, it doesn’t get better than that.”
Knight’s athletics career has been a rollercoaster of highs and some crushing lows. Her personal bests include a 400m 51.57 (indoors) and 54.09 in the 400m hurdles. Those times place her fourth on the UK’s all-time 400m hurdles list.
She’s also a multiple medal winner, claiming 4x400m bronze at the 2022 World Championships in Oregan and world indoor 4x400m bronze in Glasgow this year. She also claimed a 4x400m European indoor silver in Torun in 2021, alongside Zoey Clark, Ama Pipi, and Jodie Williams – who has also announced her retirement this month.
Domestically, Knight won five British titles representing WSEH, taking gold over the 400m hurdles in 2020, 2022 and 2023, while also securing bronze in 2019 and 2021. Indoors, she took gold across the 400m in 2020 and 2022, taking silver in 2021 behind Jodie Williams.
Her first Olympic Games in Tokyo proved a low point in her career as she bowed out after tripping and falling at the first hurdle in her heat. However, three years later she qualified for Paris 2024 where she made it through to the semi-finals, finishing sixth after navigating the repechage round.
Knight’s career is all the more remarkable considering her dual role as a primary school teacher.
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