BEIJING, August 5, 2008 (AFP) - Thai sabre fencer Wiradech Kothny said Tuesday he will join the queue at his local job centre after the Beijing Olympics when he will retire and look for proper work.

Wiradech competed for his adopted country Germany at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 where he was in swashbuckling form in winning two bronze medals.

But he switched nationality to his native Thailand soon after and attributed the change for his failure to win medals at Athens.

'I definitely lost in terms of skills in the last few years because I did not have strong sparring partners,' he said.

'On the other hand, I qualified for the Olympics in 2004 and 2008 and I'm not sure I would have as a member of the German team.'

Now 29, he said this would be his last Games with the prospect of unemployment in store.

'I have a small chance of winning a medal and I'll try to keep this chance alive as along as possible,' he said.

'But I'll retire as an athlete after the Games and I'll do what most Germans do these days -- go to the state-run employment agency and look for a job.'