Former 800m world champion Formanova retires

Former world 800m champion Ludmila Formanova has announced her retirement. The 33-year old athlete said on Wednesday the reasons were her state of health and her son Petr to whom she wanted to devote more time. Formanova was crowned world champion of the two-lap event in Seville, Spain in 1999 and also won the world indoor championships in Maebashi, Japan in the same year. A foot injury saw her pull out of her heat in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, and she has not competed at top international level since 2002. Formanova took a year out from competitive sport in 2005 to have a baby but returned a year later only to be plagued by a muscle injury from February that year.