The Olympic 400m hurdler has decided to hang up her stakes after representing Great Britain in Paris.
Jesse Knight, who competed for Great Britain at two Olympics and won five British 400m/400m hurdles titles, has retired.
The 30-year-old, who specialized in both the 400m and 400m hurdles, shared the news on Instagram, stating: “The time has come to say goodbye to competitive sports. “Competing since the age of eight, I finally got my first GB call at 26.
“Since then I have represented my country in two Olympics, two World Championships, two European Championships, one Commonwealth Games, two World Indoor Championships and one European Indoor Championships.
“I have relay medals from Worlds, Indoor Worlds and European Indoors. I’ve also won two British titles in the 400m and three outdoor 400m titles.”
Jesse Knight (Mark Shearman)
He added: “The 26-year-old elementary school teacher could not have predicted what would happen over the next four years.
“It hasn’t been easy at times, but I leave with the most beautiful memories, life experiences, lessons learned and some special people to add to my circle.
“The Olympic Games in Paris were a perfect ending for me. I ended my career on the biggest and best stage, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
Knight’s personal bests include 51.57 in the 400m (indoors) and 54.09 in the 400m hurdles, which places him fourth on the all-time UK 400m hurdles list.
His international career has also seen him win multiple relay medals, including 4x400m bronze at the 2022 World Championships and world indoor 4x400m bronze in Glasgow this year.
Jesse Knight in Oregon (Getty)
Knight also won European 4x400m silver in Torun 2021, along with Zoe Clarke, Ama Pipi and Jodie Williams, the latter of whom also announced her retirement this month.
Domestically, Knight won five British titles, winning gold three times in the 400m hurdles at the British Championships in 2020, 2022 and 2023, while also winning bronze in 2019 and 2021.
Indoors, he won gold in the 400m in 2020 and 2022 and silver in 2021 behind Jody Williams.
Jesse Knight (Getty)
Knight’s Olympic journey has been marked by both triumphs and setbacks, with his first Olympic appearance in Tokyo ending in disappointment after he tripped and fell at the first hurdle.
However, he returned to compete in the Paris 2024 qualifiers, where he reached the semi-finals, finishing sixth after navigating the repechage stage.
Knight’s career is all the more remarkable given her dual role as an elementary school teacher.
He briefly retired from athletics in 2017 to focus on teaching, but returned a year later and soon began his professional career.
Knight talks exclusively about his decision to retire from AW in our December issue, out November 28.
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