The 30-year-old Surrey gymnast, who won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Manchester 2002, quit in January and is now concentrating on his accountancy career.

The four-time British champion from Sutton had hoped to continue until London but decided to retire after his coach Simon Moore moved to another club.

Brewer said: "It wasn’t an easy decision to make.

"I was hoping to carry on until 2012, but once Simon moved the extra travel time was prohibitive, particularly when I’ve just become a dad and I’ve got a full-time job.
 

"The time was right.

"I'm getting on a bit in terms of gymnastics.

"I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved and winning the Commonwealth gold was the highlight.

"It is a unique experience to do something like that on your own soil."

Brewer is disappointed that he will miss the opportunity to compete at the World Championships in London next week.
 

He said: "It is the first World Championships I’m going to miss since I started competing internationally.

"Having captained the team for so long I still very attached to these athletes.

"I've seen them grow up and I’d have loved to have been out there."
 

Britain have a strong 10-man squad for the event at the O2, which is a test run for the 2012 Games and is also part of the qualifying process for the London Olympics.

Brewer said: "We have a strong team and hopefully they can get the result they need.

"This the first step on the road to 2012 and it is important they get off to a good start.
 

"It is going to be a good experience for them and they are only going to get better during the course of this Olympic cycle."

Brewer is hoping that he can gain enough experience before 2012 to be eligible as a judge.

He said: "I've recently qualified.

"It is good to put something back into a sport that has given me so much.
 

"Because we are hosting they are going to need a lot more officials, so I'm hoping I'll be qualified highly enough by then to play some part."