One of Brazil's biggest names in volleyball, Nalbert, announced on Thursday his retirement from the sport.

Weeks from his 36th birthday, the athlete decided to quit.

"It is time to stop. We all know that every athlete goes through the same thing and feels the same sensation of butterflies in their stomach, but life continues. The good memories are eternal," said Nalbert.

The player's career was marked with multiple tournament victories as well as many brutal injuries. He said that he intends on focusing more on his family in the future, but claims that he would love to return to the sport and help coaching the Flamengo club team.

Nalbert is one of the few volleyball players to have won the World Championship at all three levels of play. In 1991, he was part of Brazil's infant-juvenile championship team as a 17-year-old. At 19, he won at the juvenile level and completed the hat-trick when he was 28, winning the adult version of the tournament.