Double Olympic silver-medal winning sailor Joe Glanfield will not go for gold in Rio 2016 after announcing his retirement from the sport.
The 34-year-old won silver at successive Games in Athens and Beijing and returned to the double-handed 470 class in 2013 after a four-year break.
He had teamed up with London 2012 silver medallist Luke Patience in a bid to claim a first-ever British Olympic gold in the class at Rio 2016.
But despite a successful first year, including European Championship silver, fifth-place at their first World Championships together and podium finishes at three other World Cup and international regattas, Glanfield has opted to call time on his career.
The father of five will instead focus on his family as well as maintaining his interest in the sport through coaching.
“As Luke and I sailed it became quite clear what we felt was required to win a gold in Rio, and I increasingly felt as though it was going to be difficult for me to do exactly what was required,” said Glanfield.
“For me once I saw a conflict between doing a gold medal-winning campaign and living the life I want to live with my family then it became clear to me that the answer was to stop now and allow Luke to get on with someone else.
“I feel sorry that it didn’t work out for Luke and I, but I really enjoyed the experience of sailing with Luke. He’s a great guy and I’ve got a huge amount of respect for him. He’s in the perfect place to do a committed campaign for Rio and I wish him all the best for that.
“I’ll end up going down a coaching route and I’m really excited about that – I really enjoyed coaching a lot in the past and I’m looking forward to doing that again.”
© Sportsbeat 2014