LONDON — Triple Olympic rowing champion Pete Reed has been left paralyzed from his chest down following a spinal stroke, he announced.

The 38-year-old — a lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy — won the coxless four Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012 before adding a third when the eight triumphed in Rio de Janeiro three years ago.

Reed had tweeted earlier this month he had suffered a spinal stroke which he added is "very rare" and he took to Instagram to reveal the fall-out from it.

"There is a very small chance I will make no recovery and a very small chance I will make a full recovery," he said in his post.

"Much more likely it will be somewhere in between. To what extent depends on the extent of the damage (which we can't see) and how well I rehab."

A spinal stroke is a disruption in the blood supply to the spinal cord and five-time world champion Reed says doctors do not know what caused his.

"It was in the middle of my spine so I'm currently paralyzed beneath my chest," said Reed, who retired from rowing last year.

"My arms are still strong and my brain is still as average as it ever was." — AFP