Russia's great Popov retires: report
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-12-24 11:20

Four-time Olympic gold medalist Alexander Popov of Russia has retired from swimming, French sportsdaily L'Equipe reported Thursday.

Russia's Olympic champion Alexander Popov announced his retirement Thursday. [newsphoto/file]

Popov, 33, made the decision after consulting with his coach and family upon returning home from the Athens Olympic Games in August, the newspaper reported. Popov won no medal in Athens.

A retirement ceremony is being planned in Switzerland, where Popov has resided for the past two years, L'Equipe said, accordingto information from Volgograd, Russia, where Popov trained early in his career.

The four-time Russian Olympian won the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle at the 1992 Barcelona Games and in Atlanta in 1996. He earned a silver at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

Popov, who also won six events at the world championships, didn't make it out of the 50m freestyle preliminaries and was eliminated in the 100m freestyle semi-finals in Athens.

After winning the 50m free at the European championships in Madrid in May, Popov had hinted that the 2004 Games might be his finale.

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