Bankier announces retirement from badminton
BySportsbeat
Updated 23/12/2015 at 22:40 GMT
Imogen Bankier admits losing motivation convinced her the time was right to call it quits after announcing her retirement from badminton.
Scotland's Imogen Bankier
Image credit: PA Sport
Bankier won mixed doubles silver alongside Chris Adcock at the 2011 World Championships and bronze at the European Championships a year later.
She also competed alongside Adcock at the London 2012 Olympic Games, although the pair were knocked out in the first round.
The 28-year-old will now pursue a business career, helping establish a Paris branch of The Whisky Shop which was set up by her father.
And she admits the decision to retire was one a long time in the making.
"It is not a decision I've taken lightly," said Bankier. "I've taken almost a full year to contemplate while I've played a little bit and trained a little bit.
"I've achieved many of the goals I set out to achieve when I was ten years old and decided I wanted to go down the path of playing badminton.
"I achieved so much early on and I feel like I've got to the stage where there's nothing left that is really driving me forward.
"It is such a hard lifestyle to maintain when you are not 100 per cent motivated and, when you have done it for more than ten years, it takes its toll.
"I felt it was a good time to call it a day and move on to something new."
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