Hannah Whelan Announces Retirement

Hannah Whelan of Great Britain announced her retirement from gymnastics this morning. Her career spanned seven elite seasons, back-to-back British Championship all-around titles, four World Championships, individual medals at both the European Championships and the Commonwealth Games, and two Olympic Games, including contributing three routines to her team’s sixth place finish in London’s team final.

On Twitter, Whelan shared the following with her fans:

Hi everyone! Today I am announcing my retirement from gymnastics. I know it is the right decision for me after an unforgettable 16 years in the sport and I can’t thank everyone enough for their support! I want to thank my Mum, Dad, sister, brother and all of my family who have been there for me every step of the way. A massive thanks to everyone at the City of Liverpool gymnastics club and all of my coaches especially Sarah Luck (Attwell), Claire Duffy and Amanda Reddin who have helped me achieve everything I could have ever dreamed of! Thank you to my friends who have been so understanding and my teammates who I have shared some fantastic memories with. Also, to Sam who has been unbelievably supportive! And finally, thank you to everyone at British Gymnastics, the EIS, UK Sport, my schools and Liverpool John Moores University. To everyone who believed in me I cannot thank you enough! I am incredibly excited for the next chapter in my life and will definitely stay involved in gymnastics in some way! With love, Hannah Whelan X

At the age of 22, Whelan is going out with a bang after helping her team earn European team silver and Commonwealth Games gold in 2014.

“I know I’m now ready to stop competing,” according to a statement made to British Gymnastics. “After London 2012 I took a bit of time to decide to carry on as I wanted to compete at a Commonwealth Games so I set that as my goal. To achieve what we did as a team last year definitely made that decision worthwhile.”

Whelan went on to note that since the 2014 World Championships, where she helped qualify the team in fourth place, she has “grown used to the idea of not competing” though she still thinks it’ll be strange to watch her former teammates in action. “Of course I’ll be cheering them all on.”

Former City of Liverpool and GB teammate Beth Tweddle remarked that Hannah “played a vital role in the team successes for both the City of Liverpool and Great Britain,” adding that “what she achieved throughout her career was fantastic and something she can be immensely proud of.”

After retirement, Whelan has her sights set on finishing her degree in addition to taking part in British Gymnastics’ Athlete to Coach program, through which she will receive transitional support and mentorship that will help with her potential to become a high performance coach of the future.

As for the short term, Whelan will join BG’s media team at this year’s British Championships, to be held in Liverpool from March 27-29.

We wish Hannah the best of luck in her retirement! Enjoy some of these video’s from Hannah’s illustrious career, including the full series of Gymnast, a BBC documentary tracing Great Britain’s 2008 Olympic process, filmed when Hannah was just 15.