New Zealand's Olympic gold medallist Sarah Ulmer announced her retirement this week after years spent trying to regain her winning form following a chronic sciatic nerve injury in her leg.
The 31 year-old holds the world record in the women's individual pursuit with the 3.24.537 she set at the Olympics in Athens, Greece in 2004. Ulmer switched from track to the road hoping to focus on the individual time trial, but a recurring injury kept her from regaining her top form. In 2006, she was plagued by back and leg pain, and expressed her frustration with the problems to Cyclingnews earlier this year.
"I've been toying with retirement for longer than I actually expected," Ulmer told AP Saturday. "It's been a pretty frustrating year from the cycling side of things. I've been in and out of doctors and medical specialist and MRI machines."
