An announcement was made on their website today confirm the decision they had made by the couple, who got married in July 2013 and are both aged 28.

Eaton is the current world record holder in decathlon and retained his Olympic in Rio last year.

The American, who also holds the indoor record in heptathlon, said he had “given all he could” to the decathlon in a post on Twitter.

In a statement, Eaton added that it was time to “do something new” and that it was “my time to depart athletics”.

“Frankly there isn’t much more I want to do in sport,” Eaton, also a double world champion, said.

“I gave the most physically robust years of my life to the discovery and pursuit of my limits in this domain.

“Did I reach them?

“Truthfully I'm not sure anyone really does.

“It seems like we tend to run out of time or will before we run out of potential.

“That makes humanity limitless then, as far as I'm concerned.

“And I think that's inspiring.”

Theisen-Eaton won two World Championships silver medals as well as Olympic heptathlon bronze in Rio.

She was second at the 2013 event in Moscow and repeated the feat in Beijing two years later.

The Canadian athlete also claimed the gold medal in the heptathlon at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

One of their best moments as a couple came at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Eaton’s hometown of Portland in Oregon as they each topped the podium in their respective event.

Theisen-Eaton won the pentathlon while decathlon king Eaton reigned supreme in the heptathlon.

The Canadian admitted she was “mentally exhausted”, particularly after crossing the line in the concluding heptathlon event, the 800 metres, at Rio 2016.

“I have never been so thankful to be finished something in my life,” she said.

“I felt like I never wanted to do another heptathlon again.

“This feeling confused me.

“I took three months to completely get away.

“I didn’t think about those feelings.

“I didn’t want to make any decisions based on my mental exhaustion.

“But as the start of the 2017 season drew nearer, I felt more and more resistant to begin training."

Theisen-Eaton added she had “put my life on hold” during her athletics career and conceded that she no longer had the passion for track and field.

“Track and field was the priority before everything else: my family, my friends, my marriage, my future,” she said.

“This is something I chose to do and I don’t regret it for a second.

“It’s time to move on to my next passion, the next thing in the world I hope to make an impact in.”