Ibarguen reached her third consecutive Olympic final here, finishing tenth as Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela, her effective successor in the event, won with a world record of 15.67 metres.

The Colombian dominated triple jump for many years, putting together a 34-meeting unbeaten run after taking silver at the London 2012 Olympics behind Kazakhstan’s Olga Rypakova, achieving her personal best of 15.31m at Monaco in 2014.

Coincidentally, it was Rypakova who ended that run in June 2016 at the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham, but shortly afterwards, Ibarguen earned the Olympic title in Brazil with a best of 15.17m, with Rojas taking silver.

She thus became the first competitor representing Colombia to win Olympic gold in athletics.

In 2018, Ibarguen was voted the International Association of Athletics Federations' female athlete of the year.

She began as a high jumper, competing in the Athens 2004 Olympics, where she finished 17^th, but it was when she turned her attention to horizontal jumps that her career took off.

Ibarguen said: "I am very happy with the opportunities life gave me and to be able to show it is possible to fulfil dreams.

"A chapter ends now, but the great story continues."

Jos Hermens, chief executive of Global Sports Communication, commented: "I want to thank Caterine for her perfect contribution to our beloved sport and her incredible performances.

"The sport needs her, so I hope she won’t leave track and field for good."

Ibarguen, who has a Master’s degree in sports management and recently had an athletics stadium named after her in her home town of Apartado, told El Pais: "I will be linked to athletics all my life.

"My plans run up until Tokyo and to have a good competition so I could retire on a high note.

"My commitment to my country is until there.

"Afterwards I will keep on working to develop athletics in Colombia."