Dutch heptathlete Anouk Vetter has announced her retirement at the age of 32.
“The word is out: I'm ending my elite sports career. For over ten years, I competed with complete dedication at the highest level. There were lows, but so many more highs!
“I was so fortunate to have a great team around me, along with a fantastic coach and wonderful training partners. It was a wonderful adventure. I enjoyed it, learned a lot and I am grateful for everything this journey has brought me,” said Vetter in an Instagram post.
Vetter won medals in all three major championships outdoors, including three medals at the World Athletics Championships.
In between winning bronze medals in 2017 and 2023, Vetter won silver behind Nafissatou Thiam in Oregon 2022 when she scored a Dutch record of 6867 points which ranks her 10th on the European all-time list.
Breakthrough in Amsterdam 2016
Vetter also won silver behind Thiam again at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo but arguably her most memorable performance came on home soil at the 2016 European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam where she won heptathlon gold on home soil.
“In Amsterdam, my hometown, in the Olympic Stadium. That was a really great one. That's when I truly reached my full potential and became world-class,” said Vetter reflecting on winning European gold in Amsterdam.
Vetter was renowned for her prowess in the throws, especially in the javelin. Her lifetime best of 59.81m was the second longest throw ever recorded in a heptathlon - only surpassed by world javelin record-holder Barbora Spotakova who threw 60.90m in a heptathlon in 2012 - and her 59.57m set at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest was the longest throw ever recorded in any major championships.
Vetter hasn’t contested a heptathlon since the Paris 2024 Olympic Games where a hamstring injury forced her to withdraw and fittingly, her last competitive outing came in the javelin at the Dutch Championships where she won the title.
Among those to pay tribute to Vetter on social media were Olympic champion Nafi Thiam, two-time world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson and current world champion Anna Hall from the United States.
"It was a privilege to compete and get to know you all these years! Congratulations for a wonderful career and all the best for the even more amazing things coming ahead,” said Thiam on Instagram.