Irish Olympian Arthur Lannigan O'Keefe has announced his retirement with a letter to his 8 year old self.
"I want to thank you for your dreams as they fuelled me for the last 22 years", he wrote in a letter posted on Twitter last night.
In the letter he says he gave everything he has but "there is only so much a body can take" and now his time has run out as he no longer as a vessel to continue "the dream".
The former runner will now pursue a career in film making stating in the letter that "30 year old Arthur would like to become a cinematographer".
Lanigan O’Keeffe represented Ireland in modern pentathlon at both London 2012 and Rio 2016, and also qualified for Tokyo 2020 before injury prevented him from competing at a third Games.
In 2015, he won mixed relay bronze at the World Championships alongside his now-wife Natalya Coyle, and then went on to win individual gold at the European Championships later that summer.
He wrote
“Dear 8 year old self,
I hope I did you proud.
I want to thank you for your dreams as they fuelled me for the past 22 years. I am truly sorry that I fell short of the Olympic medal that you had so wished for, and not getting the chance to give that to you hurts deeply. I gave everything I had to achieve this but my time has run out.”Even though I still have the dream inside me, I no longer have a vessel to survive the pursuit. There is only so much a body can take. I know this feels like failure BUT there are so many things I want you to be proud of and grateful for.
“We are two-time Olympians (and qualified for three); a World Championship medallist, European Champion, World Cup Final medallist. We even managed to reach a ranking of No. 2 in the world and No. 1 in the Mixed Relay.
“I hope you are happy with me and that you are proud of who you have become. I now ask for your permission to start following a new dream. 30-year-old Arthur would like to become a Cinematographer (Director of Photography) and I want to help him get to the top.
“So I am afraid this is where we part ways. I will never forget you or the life we led together. I will carry the experiences had and the lessons learnt forward with me. Same fire; new dream.
“Goodbye little man.
“Yours,
“Arthur Lanigan O’Keeffe”
