Olympic badminton champion Huang to retire from Chinese national team

BEIJING -- Badminton Olympic champion Huang Yaqiong announced on social media Wednesday that she has submitted her resignation to Chinese national team and officially bid farewell to her national team career.

"I've been greeted with countless encouragements from everyone, hoping that I could continue my career. But actually, since the run-up for the Paris Olympics, I've already regarded the Paris Olympics as my last one," Huang wrote.

"Although based on my current form, I still possess the physical ability to compete, the accumulated injuries over the years combined with the increasing age have made me lack of confidence to continue shouldering the mission of winning glory for the country and maintaining the form as an elite athlete."

After finishing runners-up at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, Huang and her partner Zheng Siwei won mixed doubles gold at the Paris Olympics, finishing the tournament with a 6-0 record without dropping a set in the process.

Zheng also announced last November that he would retire from international competition. In their last international competition, the duo won the championship for the third consecutive time at the year-end Badminton World Federation (BWF) world tour finals just last month.

Huang said that although she has left the national team, her bond with badminton remains unbroken. She will still contribute to the sport in her own way. "Badminton is my lifelong pursuit, and I'm willing to give it my all," she said.