Scottish mile record holder Chris O'Hare calls time on athletics career
The Scottish mile record holder, 31, was twelfth on two occasions in final of the world championships and claimed 1500 metres bronze at the 2014 Europeans in Zurich and a medal of the same colour indoors in Prague a year later.The trailblazer and mentor for Edinburgh AC’s wave of middle-distance stars that includes Josh Kerr and Jake Wightman, he went to the Rio 2016 Olympics as a medal hope but missed out on the 1500 metres final.A prolific victor on the American track circuit, he returned home from his base in Oklahoma to land 3000m silver at the 2019 European Indoors in Glasgow. But another indoor outing in Boston in February 2020 proved to be his competitive swansong with the father-of-three, now settled Stateside, moving into the real estate industry after clocking 25 sub-4 minute miles - eight more than any other Scottish athlete.“Retiring is never an easy decision for an athlete to make but I am relieved to say that although I will miss everything about training and racing, I am happy to be a retired athlete,” he said.“Running has blessed me with so many opportunities and so many wonderful lifelong friendships. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve what I did without the unwavering support of so many people committed to making my dreams a reality.
“Thank you to my amazing parents and siblings who sacrificed so much since I was 12 to give me every opportunity to succeed. ”Thank you to my perfect wife who has always supported my dream and who never failed to step up and parent alone when I was away racing or on training camps for months at a time. ”Thank you to my coaches throughout the years for always steering me in the right direction and giving your all to my development as an athlete and as a man. "Thank you to my children, Ronan, Riley & Quinn for being the best source of motivation an athlete could ever ask for, and for cuddles on the couch when I needed them most.“Finally, thank you to all those who have supported me from afar, with kind messages when I won and more importantly, messages of support when I didn’t.”