New Delhi, March 18 : Olympic gold medalist and seven-times World Championship title holder Dame Laura Kenny, announced her retirement from professional cycling on Monday.

Announcing her retirement in an Instagram post, Kenny wrote: "Thank you cycling for everything you've given me - including a husband and our growing family!' wrote Kenny on Instagram.

"Having people say I have inspired women and girls to get active and get on a bike means the world to me. Thanks to Team GB, British Cycling and all the partners who have supported my journey. A special thanks to every team mate I have had over the years and of course to my family for being the best support unit I could ever have wished for. It's now time to move on but stay following for the next chapter,' she added.

In 2012, she achieved her first gold in the women's omnium and team pursuit at the London Olympic Games. At the Tokyo Olympics - delayed to 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic - Kenny won team pursuit silver before she and Katie Archibald became the first Olympic champions in the women's madison, a new event at that year's Games.

She is not only the most decorated female Olympian but the first woman from Britain to win three gold medals in a row. Her final significant achievement was taking first place in the scratch race at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.

She won her last world champion rainbow jersey in 2016, on the London track where she made her name, in the omnium and scratch race.

Kenny is also a 14-time European champion and won three medals, including two golds, at the Commonwealth Games.

Dame Laura's retirement comes less than two weeks after British Cycling's performance director Stephen Park said there was only a "slim chance" of her competing at the Paris Olympics this summer.

/IANS