The 29-year-old Swede became an Olympic gold medallist in Athens in 2004, and world champion in 2003, 2005 and 2007, but she had already intended to throw in the towel after injury prevented her from taking part in the London Olympics.

“My body is tired and it makes me sad that this is the end,” said Klüft, whose last event was the 400m hurdles at the Swedish national championships on Saturday.

Her first major title was at the 2002 European championships in Munich, and her ten-year long athletics career has taken its toll on her body, with recurring stress fractures.

After the hurdles race, in which Klüft finished fourth, she confirmed to national broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR) that the decision to quit had not been easy.

“It’s really hard, it’s sad. I’m staying strong now, but there’ll probably be some tears behind the bleachers afterwards. It feels sad,” said Klüft to SR.