COMMONWEALTH Games champion and two-time European gold medallist Daniel Keatings has announced his retirement from competitive gymnastics.
The Scot played a major role in Great Britain's rise to become a powerhouse on the world gymnastics stage.
Keatings, 27, recorded a number of historic firsts for GB throughout his career including winning a world all-around silver medal in 2009 and European gold on the pommel horse in 2010, a title he reclaimed again in 2013.
He was an integral part of the Team Scotland effort that won team silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with Keatings also claiming all-around silver and pommel horse gold.
He scored 16.058 to win the pommel horse title seeing off the challenge of reigning Olympic champion Max Whitlock and two-time silver medallist Louis Smith.
Highlights of his career include competing at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, although Keatings missed out on London 2012 due to injury.
In recent years, Keatings has gone on to carve a successful career as a BBC pundit and provided expert analysis during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
"I'm getting to that age now where there are younger guys coming through and it felt like the right time to retire on a high with my achievements in Glasgow still fresh," he said.
Keatings admitted that the physical demands of gymnastics had gradually began to take their toll.
"The past 18 months I have struggled with injuries here and there," he said. "At the end of 2015 I needed to take 6-8 weeks out because of problems with my shoulders.
"There was other little injuries with my ankles and knees. It was one thing after another and as soon as I got better, then something else happened."
Away from gymnastics, Keatings married his childhood sweetheart Stephanie last autumn. He also owns a successful a tanning salon business in his hometown of Corby, Northamptonshire.
"I want to take some time out for myself and to spend with my wife," he said. "Over the years I have always been away training and dedicated to gymnastics. It will be nice to relax for a bit."
While he plans to take a break from the sport, Keatings indicated that he would return to gymnastics in some capacity in the near future.
He has already gained his coaching qualifications and hopes to build on his existing work in the BBC commentary box. "I never want to be completely cut off from gymnastics," he said.
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