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Meyer retires with motivation
27/04/2005 20:12 - (SA)
Eben Human, Die Burger
Cape Town - Over the past 25 years the country has become used to the top performances of Elana Meyer, but no more. She has announced her retirement.
"It was my very last race," Meyer, 40, said at Grabouw on Saturday after she had taken part in the Total Sports Xterra meeting.
"It has been a period of 25 years that I would not have missed for anything in the world," Meyer said. "Now I must continue with the rest of my life - and I am looking forward to that."
There have been many highlights in her career, but the one that really grabbed the imagination of her countrymen was winning the silver medal in the 10 000 metres for women at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
"It was an emotional high," Meyer said.
Meyer has set six world records in road races and she also won the world title for the half-marathon.
On the track she has set (and still holds) records in the 3 000m and 5 000m.
Although Meyer has put athletics behind her, she will keep fit on her mountain bike and try to master golf.
She said she might become a motivational speaker, but it will obviously be all about balance - something she has strived towards all her career.
"Many sportsmen concentrate so hard on their sport that they forget about their careers. Then there are those businessmen who work so hard that they forget to keep fit," she said. "It's all about finding that balance, and that's what I want to talk about."
- Die Burger
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