Olympic medalist Linoy Ashram on Monday afternoon announced that she will be retiring from professional competitions in rhythmic gymnastics.
Speaking at a special press conference, Ashram said tearfully, "You need to know when to retire. I have fulfilled my dream."
She added, "If I could, I would cut the medal in two, because part of the medal belongs to my coach, Ayelet Zussman."
Throughout her career, Ashram won no less than 123 medals in five years of competition.
Ashram is the 2020 Olympic All-around Champion and won the 2018 World All-around silver medal. In both 2017 and 2019, she won the World All-around bronze medal. In 2020, Ashram became the European All-around champion, and in 2019, she won the European Games All-around silver medal.
With her gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Ashram became the first Israeli woman to win Olympic gold in any sport, as well as the first Israeli of either gender to win an Olympic medal in rhythmic gymnastics.
Ashram is expected to become a coach in her field, following in the path of her own coach, Ayelet Zussman.