Five-times Olympian quits

Thousands waited to cheer Chris Maddocks at Sydney

One of the heroes of the 2000 Olympics has announced his retirement - only to be told that colleagues already thought he had stopped racing.

Chris Maddocks of Plymouth won a rapturous ovation from the Sydney crowd when he finished the 50 km walking race with a severe injury - more than an hour behind the winner.

He set a record as the first British track and field athlete to take part in five Olympic games.

Hours afterwards the UK Athletics Federation president David Hemery shook his hand and congratulated him on an "amazing" finish to his career.

It was the most emotional thing I think I've ever experienced

Chris Maddocks, athlete

On Wednesday, Mr Maddocks told BBC News Online: "Everyone thought I was retiring after my fifth Olympics.

"But I never said so. I told my closest friends and family I was going to take my time.

"As it turned out, it was my last race."

A few months ago he was doing well in a circuit training test but injured himself again with only a few seconds to complete.

Students astounded

As a result, he turned up for his new university journalism course in Leeds with a walking stick.

Fellow students were astounded when they saw a picture of him finishing his last Olympic race.

He hopes to become a television sports journalist at the end of his postgraduate course.

He previously combined his athletics career with work at Harwell Veterinary Centre in Plymouth and managed the Plymouth Health Studio.

In August 2000 he told how he approached the stadium in his last race expecting all the spectators to have gone home, because he was so far behind.

He entered the arena to find nearly 100,000 people had waited to cheer him on.

Loudspeakers played the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)" by Scottish pop group The Proclaimers, which has the refrain: "I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more."

Special award

Mr Maddocks - 43 at the time - said afterwards: "It was the most emotional thing I think I've ever experienced."

His time of 4 hrs 52 mins put him just under 70 minutes behind winner Robert Korzeniowski of Poland.

But for his hamstring injury he would have expected to finish an hour earlier.

Later in 2000 the British Athletics Writers Association gave him the Ron Pickering Memorial Award for services to athletics.