The 41-year-old, a gold medal winner at both the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and the Daegu 2011 World Athletics Championships, had briefly returned to competition in order to compete at the Japanese National Championships.

He could only finish in 12th place with a best throw of 64.74 metres in the first round.

This was well below Ryota Kashimura's winning mark of 70.81 and the Olympic qualifying standard of 77.00. 

"Today is the end of an amazing journey," Murofushi wrote on Facebook.

"I'm hanging up my hammer.

"I want to thank every single person, in Japan and around the world, who has been part of this incredible adventure with me.

"Because today may be the end of one journey - but it's also the beginning of a new one.

"A whole new generation of athletes is taking on the challenge of Rio, and a whole country is taking on the awesome job of hosting the world at Tokyo 2020.

"I'm devoting myself now to supporting those athletes and helping make Tokyo's Olympic dreams come true, for Japan and for the world.

"Sport has given me so much - now it's time for me to give back."

Murofushi has served two years as sports director of the Japanese bid since taking over in 2014. 

During that time, he has played a key role in the re-location of venues for many sports as part of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Agenda 2020 reform process, as well as the proposal to incorporate the five new sports of baseball and softball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing.

Murofushi, also a member of the International Association of Athletics Federations Athletes' Commission, is seeking to be elected onto the IOC Athletes' Commission during Rio 2016.

He is still eligible for this because he competed at London 2012, where he won bronze.