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Sweat and tears for the ambitious goal – and then it’s all over. Olympic champions reveal how they ended their careers as top athletes.
For triathlete Nicola Spirig, the time had come on September 17, 2022. The 40-year-old mother of three children had already been dealing with the issue of resignation ten years earlier. «When we had our first child, I asked myself: Do I want to and can I continue to do sports? It would have been ok for me to end my career back then. So the last few years have all been an encore that I’ve really enjoyed.”
Just three days before Spirig’s career ended, Roger Federer also announced his retirement. Spirig remembers meeting the tennis star in the spring. “At the time he wasn’t sure when he would retire. When Roger announced his retirement shortly before mine, I had to smile. Because I always said to him: As long as you keep going, I can still do it, after all I’m younger,” she says.
The right moment to resign
The central question that all athletes must ask themselves is: when do I retire? For the former long-distance runner Viktor Röthlin, the question was pending for two years. «In 2012, after a bad run, I decided that I would continue until the European Championships in Zurich in 2014. I’ve been preparing for this for two years. And yet it was very special,” said the 47-year-old.
The situation was completely different with former ski racer Bernhard Russi. “I decided within 30 seconds that I would stop. That’s because I’ve never thought of such a thing before. The moment I first toyed with the idea, it was clear to me that the time had come. I was 30 years old, healthy and had a big part of my life ahead of me.”
“I have never given an official resignation”
Former figure skater Denise Biellmann successfully dodged the question of the right time to resign: “The funny thing is that I’ve never given an official resignation. I did shows afterwards and still do. So I never really retired from competitions.” That was how it was for her.
However, most athletes agree that it is important to plan your retirement so that you don’t lose your mental orientation. It’s been a year since Giulia Steingruber ended her career. The 28-year-old looks back on a difficult time full of challenges. The former gymnast remembers: “Before there was a structure and it was suddenly gone. There are still days when I ask myself what I’m actually doing there. But that’s part of it and you have to get used to it. But basically I feel like I’ve arrived.”
Shortly after leaving bobsleigh, Beat Hefti found the start of winter difficult. “When you’ve been doing something for so long and then suddenly you stop and the season starts without you – it’s not that easy.”
“You fall into a hole and should prepare”
Former rower Mario Gyr knows from his own experience: “You fall into a hole, so you should prepare. If you can plan it, it’s best to do it a few years in advance. Then the transition is usually relatively smooth. And I recommend that to everyone.”
This is how a new phase of life begins for all athletes at some point. Then there may be no more medals, but many other challenges.