The past few weeks have seen a flurry of athlete retirement news, from Super Bowl champion Nick Foles to women’s soccer icon Alex Morgan, who played her final game for San Diego Wave FC on Sunday. Whether forced by injury, age or desire to pursue other interests, retiring from sport can be a difficult transition for athletes. And even when they’re ready to hang up their cleats, it’s important that they have financial stability for what comes next.
Despite the challenges, many athletes do end up successful in their post-athletic careers. But for those who struggle, the stress of juggling training and competition with work, family and life outside of sport can be difficult. Adding to that, a survey by the British Elite Athletes Association found that half of Olympians and Paralympians don’t feel prepared for life after their sporting career.
In an effort to highlight the challenges that some retired athletes face, we spoke with four former Olympic and professional athletes about their experience after hanging up their cleats. From Olympic diver Tom Daley, who returned to diving after two years away to win a silver medal at Tokyo 2021, to rower Helen Glover, who did a U-turn on her retirement to take another shot at gold in Tokyo, these athletes showed that it’s possible to “un-retire” and come back better than ever.