Bucharest: Former Olympic 5,000m champion Gabriela Szabo is retiring from athletics, the 29-year-old Romanian said on Saturday.

“Everything has to come to an end..,” Szabo said. “Too much hard training, too much stress, that’s enough.”

Last year, after several defeats and suffering from burnout, Szabo decided to stop training and competing for a while. “Then I felt blocked after 16 years of competition at the highest world level,” she said. “Today I think is better to put an end to the happiest chapter of my life.”

Earlier this week, Szabo, who will turn 30 on November, was elected Romanian athletic federation vice-president.