Former Kiwi para-sprinter Liam Malone has revealed his reasons for leaving athletics, saying he lost motivation because of all the other opportunities life is currently presenting him.
Malone made the shock retirement announcement yesterday afternoon and told 1 NEWS today he's happy with his decision.
"I've done a lot of travel in the last month. It's really hard to get up at really early hours in the morning before a flight or trying to fit in some sort of training in a hotel room," he said.
"I have these whole set of different opportunities that I can take and they are really exciting to me and it was beginning to take a toll on my running."
Malone said his mother taught him never to doubt his gut instincts and follow his dreams.
"I think there's a lot of athletes that get stuck and don't call it a day when the chapter is closing and I just don't think that's a good way to spend your time here on earth.
The double Paralympic gold medallist says travel, new rules and curiosity all helped him make up his mind.
"There's so many things to do that are exciting and interesting to do.
"Life is really short - my mum died when I was 18 and if I know one thing you should be grateful for the short amount of time that you have here."
Malone is moving on to a job with Soul Machines and although he said he couldn't reveal too much about his role, he was excited for the opportunity ahead of him.
"For me, technology is really important. It's important for all people but I rely on two artificial legs to go places but humanity actually relies on technology a great deal."
The 24-year-old hasn't ruled out a return to running though.
"I'm going to keep running because I don't want to get fat," he said.
"The idea of an Ironman interests me, probably not at this age but down the line. Climbing and mountaineering looks fun - there's lots of things that look fun but it's just committing to something."
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