At the age of 38 the two times Olympic Champion Felix Sanchez, decided to drop his athlete career and to retire.
He announced that in a video conference stating that he will not take part at Rio Olympics which will take place in a few months; “My son was born two months ago and he needs me in this moment.“
Sanchez was born in California but he decided to race for his home country, Dominican Republic; during his career he won two Olympic golden medals on the 400hs, the first one in Athens in 2004 and the second one eight years later during London 2012; the medal won in 2004 was the first golden medal for his country that, until that time, had only obtained a bronze in boxing.
In 2004 he suffered an injury which accompanied him for all his career but despite this he managed to give his best during important occasions. Before winning the Olympic Games in 2004 he used to run with a bracelet which he retained to be a luck bringer; after having stepped up on the highest step of the podium he decided to donate it to IAAF for a charity sale.
Apart from the olympic titles Sanchez also boasts two golden medals and a silver one at the World Championships; he ends his long career, started in 1999, with these words “My biggest pride is that my name is part of the history of the Olympics Games“.
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