By Fatih Erel</p> <p>ISTANBUL (AA) – Missy Franklin, a five-time Olympic champion, announced her retirement from swimming at the age of 23, citing chronic health problems.</p> <p>In a retirement letter published on ESPN, a U.S.-based sports television channel, on Wednesday, Franklin said it was hard for her to take this decision.</p> <p>"It took me a long time to say the words ‘I am retiring’. A long, long time. But now I'm ready," she wrote.</p> <p>On her history of injuries while preparing for the Olympics in 2016, Franklin said she “endured shoulder pain whenever I tried to train or compete, depression, anxiety and insomnia”.</p> <p>"But now, I’m ready. I'm ready to not be in pain every day. I'm ready to become a wife and, one day, a mother," she added.
The American swimmer won 4 gold medals at 2012 London Olympics when she was 17-year-old.
