Although I had been a journalist since the tender age of 18, starting out at my local rag straight from school, I came into the job here as subeditor and reporter at 26 having never written a sport story in my life. It was a daunting prospect, particularly for someone who had barely moved a muscle in the athletic sense since PE lessons in upper school.

At times I felt out of my depth, not to mention feeling frightfully inadequate at editing work by the likes of Alan Hubbard, Mihir Bose, David Owen, Mike Rowbottom and Andrew Warshaw - eminent journalists who I would come to learn a great deal from. But I soon learned how things worked in this industry and relished the challenge. I was also in the privileged position of having award-winning sports writer Duncan Mackay as my editor, showing me the ropes.

If there is one thing for sure, it is that you are thrown in at the deep end when you start a job at insidethegames, which I now realise to be an exceptionally efficient way to learn and also a demonstration of a great deal of trust bestowed in you. I found my feet and before I knew it I was interviewing people I had not even dreamed of meeting in my lifetime and travelling the world to cover live events.

I don’t think I have enough words to pick out all of my highlights from the four years I have worked at insidethegames but I do have a few that are particularly fond memories. My favourite trip was to Annecy in 2013 to cover the International Military Sports Council (CISM) World Winter Games. Being able to visit Mont Blanc, Le Grand-Bornand and La Clusaz to witness such great sporting feats from service men and women, many of who were also Olympians and some Olympic champions, was just tremendous.

But the experience did not stop there, as I got to exclusively interview then CISM President Colonel Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, who also happens to be the head of the Cameroon National Olympic Committee and the African Athletics Confederation.

It was on that trip I learned no amount of teaching from an Olympic biathlon champion, namely Vincent Jay with the help of Simon Fourcade, would make me a good shot with a gun. To say I was hopeless would be too complimentary. Manuel Pleisch also gave me his victory bouquet and I shared mountainside fondue and wine with all the sports stars - what more could one ask for?

Then there is the experience of closely observing the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Presidential election. I took part in a telephone interview with now leader Thomas Bach during his election campaign, when he announced his plans for what we now know to be Olympic Agenda 2020 and spoke of his idea to launch an Olympic TV Channel. I also spent the day in Paris to attend Ng Ser Miang’s announcement that he was running for President.

Above all, I realise I have been fortunate to have worked here during a great period of change, both on a local and global scale, and have witnessed first hand the huge growth of insidethegames over the years.

So, what was life like before insidethegames? I genuinely struggle to remember, but I do know that it has changed immeasurably, both in my professional and personal bubbles. I am richer for the experience, having developed as a journalist but I have also gained the friendship of some marvellous people I have met through this job.

Thus, it is with a heavy heart that I close this seminal chapter of my story and look forward to the challenges the future brings with eager zest. I want to thank everyone who ever trusted me enough with their time and information but, especially, I want to thank all those I have worked with at insidethegames for such a fantastic ride.

If you want to keep in touch and find out what I am doing in the future you can find me on Twitter here.