The 35-year-old former army sergeant yesterday said she had been badly affected by the death of a man she met while visiting her physiotherapist in Ireland.

And she admitted she lacked the motivation to continue in the sport after winning gold in the 800 metres and 1 500m in Athens last year.

Holmes' double gold in Athens was the highlight of a career peppered with injury and disappointment.

Holmes met the man while she was having physio with Gerard Hartmann in Ireland but was stunned to learn soon afterwards he had been given four weeks to live.

This changed the athlete's outlook and she confirmed she had achieved all she wanted in her athletics career, also revealing a lack of motivation meant it was the correct time to retire.

"It really shook me up - one minute I was having lunch with him and then he has four weeks to live and he did die," she said.

"I have achieved everything I wanted in my life.

"I don't want to do it anymore.

I've achieved everything I wanted, I've nothing to prove to anybody including myself and I have done and surpassed what other people will continue to dream of.

"It has been a tough career with highs and lows.

It (competing in Melbourne) would have put me in a position to be open to not achieving what I would have set out to do because you never know with injuries.

"I've already won the Commonwealth Games twice and got a silver medal and I had no ambition to be a Commonwealth champion again."

Holmes said she would continue helping a group of young female athletes after securing extra funding from an insurance company.

"I am very passionate that I can see these girls grow - I hope one will become an Olympian in 2012," she said.

She also announced plans for a reality TV show, a DVD and her own personal website.

Injuries have played a large part in Holmes' career, often cruelly disrupting her preparations for major championships.

But after a rare injury-free build-up to the 2004 Olympics she finally realised her dreams of glory with two stunning performances in Athens.

A perfect tactical race saw her first win gold in the 800m, coming from seventh at the bell to surge through the field, for once getting the better of former training partner Maria Mutola.

Holmes had only decided a few days beforehand to compete in the 800m as well as the 1 500m, but the gamble paid off in spectacular fashion when she won the longer event as well just a few days later.

Again biding her time at the back of the field, Holmes was eighth at the bell but cruised through the pack down the back straight and eased to victory in a new British record time.

- Nampa-AFP

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