Former Olympic heptathlon champion Denise Lewis is retiring from athletics.

The 32-year-old, who won gold in the multi-discipline event at the 2000 Sydney Games told The Times newspaper on Wednesday: "My body has had enough, it has been through the mill."

Lewis said she made the decision after missing three weeks of training with a tonsil infection which meant she would be unable to qualify for August's world championships in Helsinki.

"After so many setbacks, the messages come through loud and clear," Lewis said.

"I was lying in the hospital bed, thinking 'Somebody somewhere is telling me it is not meant to be'.

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"I am thinking about my future and a future that does not include athletics in a participation role. It is time to say goodbye," added Lewis.

Following her triumph in Sydney, Lewis did not compete in a heptathlon for almost three years because of a string of injuries and the birth of her daughter in 2002.

She finished fifth in the 2003 world championships in Paris behind Sweden's Carolina Kluft but pulled out of the heptathlon at Athens Olympics [Images] after five events.