The Doorway for Retiring Sports Professionals

“It is often said that an elite sportsperson will die twice in a lifetime, the first time at retirement.”

For professional elite athletes who have dedicated their lives to sport, what happens when your time comes to an end, if you aren’t an athlete, then who are you or what do you do?

Elite Athletes such as sports professionals and high performers, train extensively for years, in many cases, consuming the majority of their young lives, often making extensive personal sacrifices in order to pursue their dreams. These may include making huge financial sacrifices, moving away from family, training full-time in academies, calling time on their academic studies and sacrificing personal or romantic relationships.

For many athletes, retirement is a concept that they do not wish to think about in great detail. However, whether they have achieved Olympic glory or failed to reach the pinnacle in their sport that they had aspired to, all athletes’ careers will eventually come to a close, whether this is through age, injury, exhaustion or failure.

However, what happens to these athletes once they leave the days filled with rigorous training, the extensive time spent travelling and the buzz and adrenaline of competing? This is the time in their lives where they may be susceptible to depression. Most recently, professional superstars such as Everton FC striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Real Madrid defender Jonathan Woodgate both expressed the difficulty they have experienced mentally, physically and emotionally while dealing with the rigorous demands of playing professional sport.

Many elite athletes will struggle with adapting to a “regular life” where they are no longer in the limelight and perhaps in their eyes, become forgotten members of society. Sport career termination induces dramatic changes in athletes’ personal, social and occupational lives, this can in turn potentially affect individuals cognitively, emotionally and behaviourally. The social and professional changes induced by retirement from sport can in effect cause distressful reactions. These retired athletes express a feeling of emptiness in their lives and one of the main stakes of this transition is to therefore reconstruct and adjust themselves on the basis of a new life style.

The transition that is made by professional athletes from a full-time athletic career to that of retirement has received considerable comments in the sports media, however, it only in recent years that it has warranted formal academic study. The transition is often found to be difficult because of the sudden cessation of intense demands of elite athletic performance, compounded by the sudden loss of the athlete’s intense devotion to professional athletic competition and its personal and social rewards.

The question we aim to answer here is, how do we make this transition from a sense of loss to a feeling of pure excitement and optimism?

Multiple Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe, Celtic FC Manager Neil Lennon and double Olympic Champion Dame Kelly Holmes are just a few of the high profile athletes who have made their depression public after their retirement from professional sport. 

Andrew Flintoff, Paul Gascoigne and Frank Bruno are a further few who have been afflicted by the illness and have been open and willing to share their issues to help raise the profile of depression in athletic retirement.

Boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard famously quoted,  “Nothing could satisfy me outside the ring… there is nothing in life that can compare to becoming a world champion, having your hand raised in that moment of glory, with thousands, millions of people cheering you on.”

Leonard’s struggles with retirement were well documented, leading him to suffer from extreme bouts of depression and eventually making repeated comebacks. However, for some, the depression becomes all too encompassing and over the years, there have been a number of cases of athlete’s committing suicide following their retirement from professional sport. This includes the shocking story of Russian judoka Elena Ivashchenko, who is believed to have committed suicide following depression brought on by her failure to win gold at the 2012 games.

What exactly is it that often leads retired professional athletes to spiral into depression once they leave the days filled with rigorous training, the pressure of competition and the glory days behind them?

Loss of Identity

“The biggest thing I felt was a loss of identity and purpose,”

“...Suddenly the structure, the people you call on, it all goes. But with no idea of what you want to do and who you want to be and that’s a really lonely place… I got quite depressed around that time.”

-Dame Kelly Holmes

The key catalyst for such a large number of retired athletes experiencing a loss of identity appears to be caused by transitioning into the unknown – moving into life after competing. For many, it seems that the struggle originates from not knowing who they are and what value they bring out with their job as a professional athlete.

An individual’s identity may contain numerous dimensions, however, it is possible for one in particular to become dominant or preferred and a lens through which the others are viewed. Athletic identity is described as the degree to which an individual identifies with the athlete role and looks to others for acknowledgement of that role. It has been hypothesised that the loss of a preferred or dominant role may subsequently effect a person’s overall self-concept.

We identified that individuals with a high athletic identity at the time of retirement were more likely to experience a higher degree of emotional adjustment difficulties. We (Shane Mulgrew & team) specialise in peak performance coaching and we've worked with many athletes who have struggled to come to terms with their retirement, noted that an important factor was this profound sense of loss in their lives that athletes may experience after putting their competing days behind them.

Tunnel Vision Syndrome

A “tunnel vision syndrome” affects many elite athletes to varying degrees at some stage of their careers. It is often the case that coaches, parents, professional sports agents and general managers are able to see it, however, athletes who are unaware that they suffer from tunnel vision spend far too much time thinking only of training, competition and results. As a result, athletes are left ill-prepared for the balanced perspective required of “real world” career opportunities. Britain’s double Olympic rowing champion James Cracknell stated, “I think people suffer from depression after retiring from sport because they aren’t sure where to apply that focus…there is a lot of focus and a lot of selfishness in sportsmen.” Athletes often cannot see their lives following another career path and as soon as the dreaded retirement looms, with this, brings a void that the comfort of a training routine once filled.

Potential Biological Factors

The importance that biological factors may play in an athlete who is struggling in their retirement. Athletes have had regular doses of serotonin daily for many years, when this is suddenly decreased or stopped outright, we see a huge upset to the chemistry of the body.

So, What Next?

There are a number of ways that athletes can help to reduce the chances of depression after retirement from sport, these include:

1. Reduce your exclusive identification with your sporting role and expand your self-identity to other pursuits such as Business opportunities.
2. Discover interests and competences for other activities beyond sport (perhaps considering coaching or the mentoring of other athletes)
3. Acquiring stress management and time management skills (such skills will represent tools that help you better reconcile sport with your other roles)
4. Encourage strong relationships with coaches, family, friends and managers who care about your sporting success as well as your personal growth. 
5. Consult with a sport psychologist, mentor or private coach to help explore further avenues where you can express yourself in a new direction.

Athletes by nature are mentally tough individuals and are often perceived by the public to be fitter, healthier and happier than others. It is this attitude and stereotyping that can make it more difficult for them to approach someone for help. Therefore it is highly important for close family, friends, team mates and coaches to understand that depression cannot always be seen and the athlete may indeed never admit to how they feel for fear of shame and embarrassment. The most important take home message is to understand that despite their incredible success in their hard-fought and dedicated careers, the process of retirement is a difficult one and it is of vital importance to offer support, advice and opportunity if the athlete is to avoid the dreaded post-retirement blues.

Shane Mulgrew

Executive Business Coach for Sports Professionals & Elite Athletes