Some of the biggest names in Olympic sports are retiring this year. Carmelo Anthony, Megan Rapinoe, Peter Sagan and Tessa Worley are among the athletes who won’t be competing at the next Olympics.
For some, retirement isn’t easy. It can take years to recover from the pressure of being a world-class athlete, and to figure out what to do with the rest of their lives. Many athletes also struggle to adjust from a high-income lifestyle to one where they have to budget for things like food stamps and credit card debt.
Athletes like Alex Morgan, who scored 123 goals for the U.S. women’s national soccer team, and dozens more for her club teams, are taking a breather from the game. Her decision to retire was announced Thursday, when she released a video of a conversation she recently had with her 4-year-old daughter.
It was a moment that reinforced for Morgan that it’s time to move on. “My career has been so amazing, and I am so proud of everything I’ve accomplished,” she said in the video. “But I’m ready to move on now.”
Many retired Olympians have made their way back to competition, including Tom Daley, who returned two years after retiring from diving at the 2024 Games in Paris and won a silver medal in the men’s synchronized 10m platform. Others have taken the plunge and never looked back. A few have even done a 180 and come back to their sport for a final shot at glory.