"Thank you for honouring my invitation. This is my last event, the end of career. I am honoured that you are here with me today," the 36-year-old Olympic and world champion in hammer throw said.

Kozmus is the only Olympic champion in track and field coming from Slovenia, as he won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, following it up with silver at the 2012 London Olympics.

He participated at two more Olympics, finishing 6th in Athens in 2004 and 38th in Sydney in 2000, which was the first major competition for the then 20-year-old Kozmus.

Kozmus also won three medals at world athletics championships, including gold in Berlin in 2009, becoming also the first Slovenian track and field athlete with the title of world champion.

He came very close to world championship medals in 2013 in Moscow (4th) and in Paris in 2003 (5th). Interestingly, he never won a medal at European championships, coming the closest in Zürich in 2014 (6th).

His personal best in hammer throw is also the Slovenian record, standing at 82.58 metres, achieved in September 2009 at a meeting in Slovenia's Celje.

Kozmus already announced retirement in October 2009, only to announce a return a year later. After posting moderate results in the 2011 season, Kozmus again broke out at the 2012 London Olympics, winning silver.