Often, when athlete retirement news hits the headlines it’s because of an unfortunate injury or the end of a career. But sometimes it’s for a more positive reason, such as a new chapter in life or the birth of a child. Whatever the case, retiring from elite sports is a major shift in both life and identity for many athletes. It can take time for former athletes to fully adjust. And a recent study published in Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health suggests that for many top-level athletes their identity is so entangled with their career that they struggle to move forward after retiring from their sport.
The study was led by Dr Francesca Cavallerio of Anglia Ruskin University. She and her colleagues interviewed female gymnasts who had retired from high-level competition. They found that the interviews broadly fell into three narrative categories: Entangled, Going forward and Making sense. The study reveals that the experiences of athletes after they retire can be highly dependent on the variables that shaped their careers, such as gender, whether it was a team or individual sport and whether the exit from their sports was voluntary or involuntary.
Having a clear plan for your future after retiring from sport is essential, and many athletes start this process with their athletic agent or wealth manager. It’s important for athletes to make sound financial decisions, especially when it comes to reducing their debt, saving and investing for retirement and tax purposes.