World swimming champion Missy Franklin retires at 23

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America's Missy Franklin, a former world and Olympic swimming champion, announced her retirement from competition on Wednesday, citing a nagging shoulder injury that would have required surgery.

Franklin, 23, wrote on her Twitter, "This was perhaps the hardest letter I've ever had to write… There are so many words to say and I thank you all for letting me share them with you, and for your continued support. Today, I announce my retirement from competitive swimming."

Screenshot from Missy Franklin's Twitter

In the letter Franklin wrote to ESPN.com, she said she battled through intense shoulder pain ahead of the Rio Olympics and underwent surgery on both shoulders in early 2017.

She worked on a comeback this year but was diagnosed with severe chronic tendonitis of the rotator cuff and biceps tendons.

"Swimming has been, and always will be, a big part of my life and I absolutely plan to stay involved in what I believe is the best sport in the world, just in a different way," Franklin wrote.

Franklin has won five Olympic gold medals and six overall plus 11 world titles in her career.

She won the 100 and 200 meters backstroke events at the 2012 London Olympics when she was 17, the latter in a world-record time that still stands more than six years later.

(With input from AFP and Reuters)