Jamaican Olympian Mica Moore, who competed in the women’s mono bob at the recent Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games, took to social media to announce her professional retirement.In a post on Instagram, Moore revealed that she made the difficult decision to step away from the sport she had dedicated the last decade of her life to.“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. For the last 10 years, bobsleigh has been my pursuit of happiness, and I truly believe I found it in the end,” she wrote.“My love for this sport is what makes this such a tough thing to say I’m retiring from international bobsleigh.”Moore, born in Newport, South Wales, started her professional career as a sprinter representing Wales and was a member of the relay team that set the Welsh women’s 4x100m national record of 44.51 seconds in 2014.In 2016, Moore decided to test her hand at bobsleigh where she represented Great Britain at the 2017 Junior Bobsleigh World Championships, winning gold alongside teammate Mica McNeill in the two-woman event.Moore continued to represent Great Britain in bobsleigh and competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics where she finished eighth, the best-ever placing of a British women’s team.She briefly withdrew from the team in 2021, citing racial and gender discrimination, before leaving the British programme in 2022 and switching her allegiance to Jamaica in 2024.In the black, green, and gold of Jamaica, Moore enjoyed a successful spell as she picked up a silver medal in the two-woman event and a bronze medal in the mono bob at the 2026 Bobsleigh Pan American Championships.Moore also competed at the 2028 Winter Olympics and was selected as Jamaica’s flag bearer. She finished fourteenth in the mono bob, the highest ever placing for a Jamaican athlete.Looking back at her career, Moore said she is proud of her achievements, and she would leave the sport with zero regrets.“A decade of chasing a dream that took me further than I ever imagined possible. Two Olympic Games. Two countries. Two opportunities to wear my dual nation’s colours with pride,” Moore said.“Looking back, the journey was far from easy. There were bumps in the road big enough to stop most people,” she continued.“What gives me peace and a heart full of content is knowing I left nothing behind. Every obstacle that stood in my way was met head-on. Every setback was answered with another attempt. Every closed door made me look for a window. And somehow, through all of that, I managed to carve out a small place for a little Mica in the history of this sport.”THANK YOUMoore said she is happy to have been able to decide when it was her time to step away from the sport and thanked her family for their continuous support.“Not many athletes get to choose how they sign off. And even though it’s a very tough choice to make, to be able to make this decision on my own terms and give myself this moment feels very special,” she explained.“To dad (coach), I said to you I want to make an Olympic Games, and you made it happen twice. To mum, for all your support, thank you. To Nick, for being my absolute best boy through a change in life.”She also thanked her fellow athletes who she competed with and against for their presence throughout her career.“To every athlete, past and present, who shared knowledge, encouragement, laughs, struggles, and success, thank you.”She added, “And to every person I’ve met along the way who made this decision harder simply by being a genuinely good human being, thank you.”gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com