Mexico’s Ana Guevara delights in her 400m victory in Cartagena, Colombia (© AFP / Getty Images)
Mexico's greatest track athlete ever, 400m specialist Ana Guevara has announced her retirement after a four-month dispute with her national federation.
"I lost my spark, my illusion. But I leave content and satisfied with my career", said the 30-year old sprinter in a press conference last week.
The 2003 World champion dominated the one-lap race during two seasons. She currently ranks ninth on the all-time lists with her 48.89-second clocking that gave her the World title in Paris.
The star from the northern Mexican state of Sonora also added the 2004 Olympic silver and two bronze medals at the 2001 and 2005 World Champs. In Osaka, she finished fourth.
In Edmonton 2001, she became the first Mexican woman to win a medal at any World Championship. Since her third place in the Canadian city, Guevara went unbeaten in 24 successive 400m finals, until July 2004.
Regionally, she became the first woman to clinch three Central American and Caribbean and Pan American Games titles.
A former basketball player, she took up athletics in 1995 and made her international debut at the Iberoamerican Championships in Medellín, Colombia, in 1996. She doubled at 400m and 800, before focusing on the shorter distance from 1999.
Her coach for 12 years, Cuban-born Raul Barreda believes she had the right age to run the one-lap in Beijing, before moving up to the 800m.
"I will miss not seeing her every day on the track, but I respect her decision,” said Barreda.
Apart from the Central American and Caribbean record over 400m, she also improved the Mexican record in 800m (2:01.12 in 1998) and led the Mexican team to a new 4x400m relay national record of 3: 27.14 to qualify for the World Championships final in Osaka.
Guevara will take a long holiday before deciding whether she will continue to be involved in the sport.
Javier Clavelo Robinson for the IAAF
Here are Guevara's top results:
1996 2nd CAC Junior Championships (800m)
1997 6th World University Games (800m)
1998 1st Iberoamerican Championships
1998 2nd CAC Games (400m-800m)
1999 4th World Indoor Championships
1999 1st Pan American Games
2000 5th Olympic Games
2001 3rd World Championships
2001 1st Goodwill Games
2002 1st World Cup
2002 1st CAC Games
2003 1st Pan American Games
2003 1st World Championships
2003 1st World Athletics Final
2004 2nd Olympic Games
2004 1st World Athletics Final
2005 3rd World Championships
2006 1st CAC Games
2007 1st Pan American Games
2007 4th World Championships