The Best Athlete Transitions are Built Early

If past statistical trends continue, the majority of athletes who compete at the Olympic Games will experience the event only once in their careers.

That is a harsh reality given the extraordinary commitment required to reach what remains arguably the greatest sporting competition in the world. Yet the numbers do not lie.

From 1896, when the Olympic Games were revived, until 2018, statistician Bill Mallon calculated that of the 136,356 athletes known to have competed in either the Summer or Winter Games, 72% (97,718) attended just a single Olympics.

Of course, this dynamic varies from sport to sport. While competitors in sports like table tennis have roughly a 50-50 chance of attending more than once, between 80% and 90% of athletes in sports such as boxing, football and gymnastics experience the Games only once.

For most Olympic athletes, the journey to the Games represents the culmination of years, often decades of discipline, sacrifice and dedication. Yet the reality is that the competitive window for elite athletes is relatively short, and the transition that follows can be both financially and psychologically challenging.

In many countries, qualifying for the Olympic Games is directly connected to funding for training and living expenses. In other words, if an athlete is not competing at the level required to qualify for the Games, financial support can quickly diminish. This reality can significantly limit the duration of an athlete’s elite career.

So what awaits these remarkable individuals in the years that follow their Olympic moment?

Despite the growing awareness that athletic careers are often short and unpredictable, the global sports ecosystem is still developing comprehensive systems to support athletes as they transition beyond competition.

Very few athletes, whether in Olympic or professional sport earn enough during their careers to sustain themselves long-term. This reality places increasing responsibility on sports organisations, including governing bodies, national Olympic committees, leagues and clubs, to provide structured support for athletes as they prepare for careers beyond sport.

“It’s fair to say that athletes like Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps are exceptions when it comes to Olympic competition,” said Chantal Buchser, the International Olympic Committee’s Senior Project Manager for Athlete Support. “Careers can be short, and incomes related to sport can be relatively low. This does not always reflect the years of dedication athletes invest in their sport. That is why programmes supporting career development are so important.”

Over the past two decades, the Olympic Movement has taken important steps to address this challenge. For example, the International Olympic Committee has worked closely with The Adecco Group, one of the world’s largest providers of workforce solutions, to support athletes in preparing for life beyond competition. Together, these initiatives have helped tens of thousands of athletes explore education and employment pathways alongside their sporting careers.

This iniciative evolved into the IOC’s Athlete365 Career+ programme, which provides athletes with access to career guidance, education resources and professional development opportunities designed to help them build sustainable futures beyond sport.

Encouraging athletes to think about life after competition while they are still active remains one of the most important aspects of these initiatives. Elite athletes understand better than anyone that careers can be disrupted by injury, selection decisions or changes in performance. Preparing early can therefore be essential.

At the same time, timing these conversations is not always easy.

As Buchser notes, discussing career transitions with athletes immediately before or after major competitions can be challenging. At that stage, athletes are deeply focused on performance; or experiencing the emotional aftermath of years of preparation centred around a single event.

Research into athlete transitions shows that the end of a sporting career can trigger significant psychological adjustment. Retiring from elite sport often means leaving behind established routines, social structures and personal identities built over many years. Some athletes describe the experience as feeling “between two worlds” not fully part of sport, yet not fully integrated into a new professional path.

These challenges are not unique to Olympic sport. In many professional leagues, career spans can be equally short. Data from major North American leagues shows average career lengths ranging from just over five years in the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball to under five years in the National Basketball Association and roughly three years in the National Football League. In elite football leagues such as the English Premier League, the average career lasts around eight years.

Short careers and uncertain financial outcomes make career preparation essential for athletes across all sports.

Encouragingly, progress is being made in several countries. National Olympic Committees in countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Norway and Switzerland have developed programmes that help athletes combine elite performance with education and career planning.

At the same time, many within the Olympic Movement acknowledge that more can still be done.

IOC President Thomas Bach has highlighted the importance of initiatives such as Athlete365 Career+, emphasising that supporting athletes in developing skills, education and employment opportunities is essential to enabling “lifelong excellence on and off the field of play.”

Ultimately, preparing athletes for life beyond competition is not simply a welfare initiative. It is an investment in the long-term sustainability and credibility of sport itself.

The Olympic Games celebrate extraordinary human achievement. Ensuring that athletes have the tools to thrive long after their moment on the field of play is one of the most important responsibilities the global sports community shares.

Disclaimer: this article was written as part of Adecco Group research on Athlete Career transition in collaboration with the IOC Athlete 365 Career+.