Tokyo Olympics: Jesus Angel Garcia, 51, calls time on record-breaking career after eight Games

At 51 years old, Jesus Angel Garcia has made history - as the first person to compete in an athletics event at eight summer Olympic Games.

The Spaniard's big moment at Tokyo 2020 came in the 50km race walk in Sapporo on Friday, as he finished 35th.

Garcia first competed at the 1992 Games in Barcelona - before all of the men's 100m medallists at this year's Olympics were even born.

But he won't be back for Paris 2024 - as his event is being dropped.

Organisers have decided to remove the 50km walk from the Olympic programme because there is no equivalent race for women. Race walking was first included at the Games for women in 1992, but has never been staged over more than 20km.

Poland's Dawid Tomala was the winner of the final 50km event - and afterwards, bronze medallist Evan Dunfee criticised the decision of the International Olympic Committee and World Athletics to drop the race.

"It's a terrible mistake by the IOC and World Athletics," Canada's Dunfee said. "I think we showcased today that this event belongs in the Olympics.

"The easiest solution would have been to allow women to race 50k at the Olympics. It's heartbreaking."

With the event disappearing from the Games, veteran Garcia decided that Tokyo 2020 was the perfect time to end his career.

Garcia's eight Olympics never brought a medal - his best result being the fourth place he earned at Beijing 2008.

But he has enjoyed success in the event elsewhere, taking gold at the World Championships in 1993.

Even without an Olympic medal to his name, Garcia's constant presence in the Games since the early 1990s is an extraordinary achievement.

The Madrid-born athlete told Spanish news outlet Metropoli Abierta before the Games that he was ready to retire, saying: "The Olympic Games are a unique experience and of course everyone wants to live it.

"I have had the fortune to be able to go to many. I feel part of something that is historic."

Garcia admitted that, having missed out on the Olympic podium so many times, his focus has shifted from medals somewhat.

"When I was young, I was too impulsive, and when I had experience I lacked youth," he said before his event.

"Eight Games are enough. I just want to enjoy once more the Olympic magic and then retire to a quieter, more relaxed life."

It means Garcia won't challenge the overall record for the most summer Olympic appearances, held by Canadian showjumper Ian Millar, who appeared at 10 Games between 1972 and 2012.

Garcia (right) won silver at the 2001 World Athletics Championships in Edmonton, Canada

Knowing the Tokyo Games would be his last, he used the year-long postponement to his advantage, gaining his athletics coaching qualifications.

"I am already training teenagers and I feel very comfortable looking for talents for this sport that has given me so much." he told CMD Sport in 2020.

"On the other hand, I will be able to resume my career as a podiatrist, as I have already had some offers."

These aren't the only strings to his bow.

The Atletico Madrid fan, who also holds the record for the most appearances at the World Athletics Championships (13), has served as a councillor in San Adria de Besos, a municipality within Barcelona.

So with politics, coaching and chiropody, not to mention his family - he has a wife and two daughters -Garcia is likely to keep himself very busy in his well-earned retirement.