[quote]COMMONWEALTH Games gold medallist Hollie Dykes has hung up her leotard just months out from the Beijing Olympics. She was widely acclaimed as the nation's top gymnast and best medal chance. The 17-year-old former AIS-based Queenslander signalled her intentions to retire to Gymnastics Australia and the AIS hierarchy just before Christmas. Dykes won gold in the floor exercise, silver in the beam and bronze in the all-around at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006. Australian coach Peggy Liddick said officially Dykes was just taking some time out to deal with motivational issues. "I spoke to her in December and she just needs some time to think about things," Liddick said. "I'm meeting her (in Canberra) this week to see how she feels after having a couple of weeks out of the gym." But Hollie's mother, Julie Dykes, said her daughter had quit the sport for good and was not just taking a break. She said she was prevented from going into details about the reasons for Dykes's departure because of a legal contract with the Australian Institute of Sport.[/quote] [quote]"The door's still open for her. I just left it totally in her hands," she said. "She knows that we're here and what we're doing and what the rules of the game are."[/quote] http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23029349-5014143,00.html (via difficulty plus execution) Maybe it will be like Catalina Ponor who came out of retirement because she decided she wanted to come back (but Catalina retired again due to back problems; she did make a great comeback). Or maybe Hollie will not. Depends on her reasons for retirement. Related: Romanian Olympic champion Ponor announces retirment from gymnastics http://www.gymchat.com/messageboards/viewtopic.php?t=13354 Catalina Ponor returns in the world elite of gymnastics (Nine O'Clock) http://www.gymchat.com/messageboards/viewtopic.php?t=938