Olympic track champ Christine Ohuruogu announces retirement

Former Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu announced her retirement from athletics on Saturday.

British runner captured 400m gold in 2008, silver in 2012

Britain's Christine Ohuruogu, seen competing at the Rio Olympics, announced her retirement from athletics on Saturday as the British Championships are set to begin. (Lee Jin-man/Associated Press)

Former Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu announced her retirement from athletics on Saturday.

The 34-year-old, who secured gold in the 400-metre race at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and silver in London four years later, had already indicated that this season would be her last on the track.

Ohuruogu, who won world titles in 2007 and 2013, confirmed her retirement in a statement on her website.

"Today is the start of the British Championships and, as I won't be there competing, I feel it is a good time to formally announce my retirement from competitive athletics," she said.

Ohuruogu was also part of Britain's 4x400 relay team which won bronze at the Rio Olympics.

Ohuruogu served a 12-month ban from athletics for missing three out-of-competition drugs tests between October 2005 and July 2006.

A British Olympic Association bylaw meant all doping violations were punishable by lifetime Olympic bans, putting her participation in Beijing in doubt. She appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which upheld the suspension but said it believed it was just a case of her being forgetful when the testers arrived. The ban was eventually lifted in November 2007.