The 34-year-old Norwegian, who won top honours at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, missed the whole of last season through injury and was originally aiming to return to action at the Prefontaine Classic in American city Eugene at the end of this month.

However, Thorkildsen has now opted to call time on his illustrious career, which also saw him win the 2009 world title and the 2006 and 2010 European crowns.

"I have decided to end my career as a professional javelin thrower," he posted on his Instagram account.

"It’s been a fun ride.

"Thanks for all the support these years.

"Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way."

Despite taking the athletics world by surprise with his Athens 2004 triumph at the age of 22, Thorkildsen went on to establish himself as one of the world’s best throwers and made it on to the podium at eight successive major championships.

He threw beyond 90 metres on eight occasions during his career, including at Beijing 2008 where he broke the Olympic record with 90.57m.

Thorkildsen’s lifetime best of 91.59m, set on home soil at the 2006 Bislett Games in Oslo, places him seventh on the world all-time list.

His sixth-place finish at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow proved to be his final appearance at a major event with injuries restricting him to just a handful of competitions in 2014, and ruling him out completely in 2015.