What Olympic Athletes Are Doing After Retirement
Medium–The Olympics is an event with multiple sports and happens every four years just like the United States Presidential Election. What Olympians do with their lives after retirement from the medals, differs from each athlete.
All Olympic athletes come to a reality at some time in their lives to retire from their sporting careers whether it’s because their bodies can’t keep up with the physical requirements anymore or they feel rich enough without needing to compete in the future.
According to LinkedIn, the most common paths for professional athletes after retirement include, “entrepreneurship, coaching, completing more education, management, media and franchises, business and the boardroom.”
According to one source, “It is very rare that an elite sports career would last more than 10 years, with athletes generally retiring around the age of 34.” Olympics.com talks about a double trampoline athlete named Rosie MacLennan who announced her retirement from the Olympics in 2022 at 34.
The Canadian trampoline athlete MacLennan made history by becoming the first female athlete to win two consecutive titles in Olympic trampoline. “I’ve gotten all the best sides that sport has to offer and I am so grateful for that. I was treated as an equal partner and empowered to reach new heights,” said Maclennan. After leaving the Olympics, MacLennan decided to further her education by going for her Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Stanford University in California.
All athletic careers must end at some point and new life plans must be set in place for after retirement. Every Olympian has to decide what to do after leaving the sport of medals. Public speaking and coaching are two main career patterns that flow smoothly out of retirement while making retirees still feel connected to the sport they’ve previously played. Public speaking and coaching allow retired athletes to build knowledge on their existing skills and fame.
An athlete’s life is strictly controlled and organized. Time is set daily for gym training while an athlete’s body weight and food intake are both monitored and logged. One might say that relaxing the stiff structure feels easy, but many athletes claim to feel lost without the structure. Athletes after retirement from sports are in the same feelings professionals go through when facing unemployment.
The best advice given to athletes who find themselves in this situation feeling stuck is to create structured daily plans that include eating breakfast, athletic training, and employment search. Athletes must stick to the plans that are set. Creating and sticking with a plan that includes the same daily tasks of eating, exercise, laundry, cleaning, and shopping may not seem to go anywhere but it goes farther than some would think.
Lydia Lassila is a retired gold medalist from Olympic freestyle skiing who has been inducted into the Hall Of Fame. Now after retirement from the sport, Lassila has gone into the business field and started her own business called Body Ice where she makes ice packs for athletes.
Mike Dawson is a canoe slalom athlete who last participated in the 2016 Olympics. Dawson began to lose his funding during the 2016 Rio Olympics and then decided to write a cookbook with his recipes. By writing a cookbook, Dawson has combined his love for food with his love of traveling the world as an athlete. Dawson has titled his cookbook, “Eat Like the Locals.”
The United States Olympic Committee has partnered with employment agencies and universities to provide Olympians with the training, education, and knowledge they need to find career opportunities after sports retirement. Kim Zmescal is a gymnast who participated in the 1992 Olympics and after retirement, Zmescal decided to later open her gym classes that she started teaching in Texas.
A lot of Olympic competitors have not earned their college degrees and for that reason, some retired Olympians decide to resume their education after retiring from the sport of medals. An example of this is Figure skater, Michelle Kwan. Kwan retired in 2006 from Figure skating but then went on to college to complete her undergraduate and master’s degrees in Political Science and has begun working alongside Hillary Clinton.
Have you known that athletes may sometimes retire from one sport just to play another sport? Figure skater Tonya Harding decided to do boxing after being banned from Figure Skating. Harding was banned for life by the United States Figure Skating Association after she accepted a plea deal for her assault on Nancy Kerrigan.
U.S. bobsledder Steve Mesler decided to do charity work after retirement and started his charitable organization and named it, “Classroom Champions.”
According to olympics.com. 2024 may be the last Olympics appearance for four athletes who might soon announce retirement from the Olympics and their professional athletic careers as a whole. Those athletes are Simone Biles, LeBron James, Tom Daley, and Teddy Riner.
Simone Biles is one of the greatest gymnasts of all time and is also known as the most decorated gymnast in history. Born in March of 1997, Biles was too young to participate in the 2012 London Olympics but rose to fame in 2013. At 16 years old, Biles received two gold medals at the Antwerp Championship where she introduced the world to her state-of-the-art move known as “the Biles,” which is a double layout with a half twist that has since become a part of gymnastics history. Heading into the 2024 Paris Olympics, Biles currently has a total of 7 Olympic medals which includes 4 gold medals, 1 silver medal, and 2 bronze medals. In addition to 30 World Championship medals with 23 gold, 4 silver, and 3 bronze medals. According to the New York Times, “Biles has no idea what she’ll do after gymnastics. Work in her gym? Coach in college? She is excited about her next chapter, but it scares her.” Biles said, “At the end of the day, I’m such a huge athlete, but who am I? If you take off that mask, you know, who will I be? I’m still trying to find that out.”
Tom Daley is a British diver who received his initial Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Following the 2020 Olympics, Daley took a two-year gap before announcing he’ll be participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Daley’s decision to participate in the 2024 Olympics comes after his son, Robbie, said he would like to see his father diving at the Olympics. Daley currently holds 1 gold and 3 bronze Olympic medals. The British olympian made his first Olympics appearance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Daley’s medals include bronze in the platform at the 2012 London Olympics, bronze in the synchronized platform at Rio 2016 Olympics, bronze in Men’s 10m Platform, and 1 gold medal in Men’s Synchronized 10m Platform at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Teddy Riner is a martial arts Olympian who is known by many to be the greatest judoka in history. Riner is a French Olympian who holds 11 world titles and three Olympic gold medals. Riner became the youngest judo world champion at 18 in 2007, after winning the gold medal at the Rio De Janeiro World Championship one year after winning the junior title. Riner won a surprising 154 consecutive matches during a decade-long timeframe of going undefeated. Riner lost his 154-win streak in the 3rd round of the 2020 Paris Grand Slam event. Riner mentioned that he plans to participate in the 2024 Olympics and possibly even take his career farther into 2028. Riner’s last medal was Bronze in men’s +100 kg in judo at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Riner stated, “I can’t say for sure that I will stop in 2024. As long as everything goes well, I may continue my journey behind that.” Riner also mentioned that “While my focus is on 2024, I’m also considering the possibility of aiming for 2028.” Riner’s first Olympic competition was at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In February 2024, Riner won the 2024 Paris Grand Slam event by defeating Kim Min-Jong of Korea.
