Moscow, Jan 16 (IANS): Two time Russian Olympic gymnastics champion Evgenia Kanaeva has retired, the sport's federation said.

Kanaeva will remain one of the seven vice presidents of the federation, reports Xinhua.

"Kanaeva has decided to finish her sporting career," the All-Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation said in a statement.

Born in 1990 in a family of athletes, Kanaeva is the only rhythmic gymnast to win two Olympic gold medals.

She won her first Olympic gold medal in Beijing 2008 in the women's rhythmic individual all-around final while her second Olympic gold came in the 2012 London Olympics.

At the 2009 World Championship in Japan, she became the first rhythmic gymnast to win all six gold medals.

The 22-year-old expressed her intention to leave sports last month saying she probably has finished her career.

"There was a choice between 'labour' in training or switching to another activity," she said, adding she wanted to learn something else besides the training process.