Sprinter Leon Reid, who won a bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland, has announced his retirement at the age of 28.
Reid was barred from competing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games after he was found guilty of allowing his flat to be used to produce crack cocaine.
He was handed a suspended sentence and ordered to do 220 hours of unpaid work.
He said his career was a “rollercoaster ride” with “exhilarating highs and gut-wrenching lows”.
“It’s with a heavy heart I bid adieu to the world of athletics and retire from the sport that has given me so much.
“(From) competing for Great Britain and England at a junior level and being a part of their history books to changing allegiances to the gold, white and green of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“Becoming a national record holder is something I never dreamed of achieving,” added Reid.
Reid barred from Commonwealth Games after security risk assessment
A 200m specialist, Reid set his personal best of 20.27 seconds in 2018 – the year he switched international eligibility from Great Britain to Ireland.
After winning his Commonwealth Games medal in April 2018 in Australia, Reid reached the 200m final at the European Championships later that year in his first international appearance for Ireland.
Reid won Northern Ireland’s first athletics medal in 28 years when he claimed an impressive bronze in the 200m at the Gold Coast.
After missing out on selection for the 2019 World Championships, Reid did secure qualification for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 only for the Games to be delayed for a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But four months before the rescheduled Tokyo Games, the sprinter was one of 18 men charged with drugs and firearms offences, all of which he denied.
– BBC
