The 31-year-old became the first Irishman since Harry Reynolds’ one-mile amateur triumph in 1896 to win a World Track Cycling Championships title, at the 2013 edition of the event in Minsk.

Competing in the 15 kilometre scratch race, Irvine broke away from the field inside the final 10 laps of race and his solo effort was rewarded as he held off the challenge of Austria’s Andreas Müller and Australia’s Luke Davison in the closing metres to claim the gold medal.

His achievement had come less than an hour after he claimed the silver medal in the men’s individual pursuit event after being beaten in the final by Australia’s Michael Hepburn.

Irvine returned to the track after breaking his hip to win the bronze medal in the omnium at the 2013 European Championships in Apeldoorn, before winning scratch race silver at the 2014 World Championships in Cali, Colombia.

With his favoured disciplines, the scratch and individual pursuit, being non-Olympic events his hopes for qualification had rested on earning an omnium place.

The 18 best ranked National Olympic Committees on the International Cycling Union (UCI) Olympic Track Ranking from 2014 to 2016 are granted a sole spot for the omnium, but Ireland lie in 29th with no prospect of sealing a berth.

Irvine has also reflected that injuries, which have hampered his progress in recent years, and losing enjoyment in competing have played an impact when making his decision to retire.

“Something has just happened to me over the last one to two years and I can’t really pin point it,” Irvine wrote in a blog post.

“Okay, I’ve had a few crashes that have left metal inside me but I came back from them, I mean, I won a European medal six months after breaking my hip.

“It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that it’s a mental thing.

"However, it’s not that simple. I really miss racing, even now when I’ve barely stopped.

“It just feels like a natural end though, for the last year I’ve been racing and under-performing across the board.

“Frustration has been setting in all year and I’m sick of just turning up to bike races.”

Irvine competed at London 2012, finishing13th in the omnium.

He also won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in the team pursuit at Delhi 2010 competing for Northern Ireland.