NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC):

BAHAMIAN QUARTER-MILER Tonique Williams-Darling says she is retiring from track and field, less than a week after watching her reign as Olympic champion end in Beijing.

Williams-Darling has been absent from the track since September 2006 and several reports had suggested that she was on the verge of quitting the sport. The 32-year-old, however, played down those remarks in July, stating that she was eyeing a 2009 return. But speaking to a local newspaper this week, the 2004 Athens Olympic gold medallist confessed that she had been considering the decision for a while.

Games

"It has been several things," Williams-Darling explained in the Nassau Guardian. "Prior to just sitting down and watching the Games for these last couple of weeks, there has been several things that had happened in the past two years that kind of signalled to me that things were changing and moving in a different direction.

"First, the separation from my coach who has been very instru-mental in my career, moving to a different state with my husband (Dennis) as he begins his coaching career and with my pregnancy earlier in the year, those were the kind of things that had my career slow down right before the Olympics," she said.

Olympic gold

Williams-Darling, Bahamas' only individual Olympic gold medallist who also won a gold medal at the Helsinki World Championships in 2005, also admitted to not missing com-petition, something that played a big part in her decision.

"Honestly, to tell you the truth, I've watched the Games for the last two weeks and I've been the biggest Bahamian supporter," she pointed out.

Enjoyed watching

"I've enjoyed watching everything and even though there is that excitement as an athlete, watching my friends and fellow Bahamians run, I never had that itch to be back out there again.

"I think anytime someone with my calibre in the sport can sit down and watch it and not want to be out there, I think that it kind of signals that I am comfortable and I have accomplished all that I can accomplish in the sport and I am content with that."