Psychology of Sport and Exercise 21 (2015) 50e56

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Psychology of Sport and Exercise

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/psychsport

Olympic athletes back to retirement: A qualitative longitudinal study

Miquel Torregrosa*, Yago Ramis, Susana Pallare

s, Fernando Azo

car, Clara Selva
noma de Barcelona, Spain
Universitat Auto

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Objective: In this qualitative longitudinal study we assess the retirement process of Olympic athletes. We
Available online 17 March 2015 aim to evaluate the influence that following a dual career or being exclusively focused on sport can have
in this process. We compare athletes' prospective views before retirement (Torregrosa, Boixado
s,
Keywords: Valiente, & Cruz, 2004) with their retrospective accounts ten years later. This allows us to assess athletes'
Qualitative longitudinal study accuracy in predicting the process and its outcomes in relation to the trajectory followed.
Elite athletes
Design: We designed a qualitative longitudinal study (Epstein, 2002) conducting semi-structured
Dual career
interviews.
Transitions
Retirement from sport
Method: Fifteen Olympic athletes were interviewed twice. Thematic analysis was performed on the
qualitative data comparing prospective views and retrospective accounts of: (a) retirement planning, (b)
voluntary termination, (c), multiple personal identities, (d) availability of social support, and (e) active
coping strategies.
Results: Ten athletes reported positive transitions related to their favorable approach to the five cate-
gories above. Most athletes reporting positive transitions followed dual careers (i.e., parallel or conver-
gent trajectories). Five out of fifteen athletes reported unexpected difficulties in the transition. Four of
these followed a linear trajectory during their sporting career. A clear view of retirement in the pro-
spective interviews also facilitated retirement for an athlete following a linear trajectory. While a diffuse
view of retirement in the prospective interview signaled future difficulties.
Conclusion: Results from this qualitative longitudinal study suggest that promoting dual careers in elite
sport and working on the prospective view of retirement can facilitate retirement from elite sport and
the transition to an alternative professional career.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction vein, this work presents a qualitative longitudinal study of retire-

Exploring retirement from sport has been a subject of interest in
sport psychology from pioneering work in the late sixties (e.g.,
Mihovilovic, 1968) to current times (e.g., Park, Tod, & Lavallee,
2012). Indeed, studies on career termination, and more generally
on career development and transitions, have increased substan-
tially both in quantity and quality since the end of the1980s
(Stambulova, Alfermann, Statler, & Co ^te
, 2009). However, according
to Park, Lavallee and Tod (2012) in their systematic review, avenues
for research still remain. In particular, these authors propose that,
as retirement occurs over time, employing longitudinal designs
could minimize the limitations of cross-sectional studies. In this
ment, providing a unique insight into the dynamics of retirement as
a process. Here we focus on a group of 15 elite athletes, com-
plementing their prospective view on sport retirement given in the
early 2000s (Torregrosa, Boixado
s, Valiente & Cruz, 2004), with
their retrospective accounts of the same process ten years later.
This approach enables us to comment on factors conditioning both
the fulfillment of athletes' initial expectations regarding retirement
and the effectiveness of initial strategies and decisions taken, from
a long term retrospective position. In particular, by taking into ac-
count different trajectories in terms of athletes' career compatibi-
lization, we could study the way in which following dual careers
can affect the retirement process.

Retirement from competitive elite sport

* Corresponding author. Departament de Psicologia Ba sica, Evolutiva i de l'Edu-

, Edifici B, Universitat Auto
cacio  noma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona,
Spain. Tel.: þ34 935813153. Factors involved in athletic career termination have been
E-mail address: miquel.torregrosa@uab.cat (M. Torregrosa). extensively discussed by Stambulova et al. (2009), in the ISSP

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2015.03.003
1469-0292/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 M. Torregrosa et al. / Psychology of Sport and Exercise 21 (2015) 50e56
Position Stand on career development and transitions. In this
comprehensive review, these authors pointed out three major
shifts in stance concerning athletes' career transitions: (a) transi-
tion being interpreted now as a coping process rather than as a
phenomenon; (b) other transitions being included, instead of
focusing almost exclusively on athletic retirement; and (c) a shift
from considering athletes' transitions exclusively in their sporting
career to a “whole person” lifespan perspective. Stambulova et al.
draw 6 conclusions concerning key features of the transition pro-
cess: (a) the multi-causality of career termination, (b) the great
inter-individual differences in the reactions to career termination,
(c) the key role of the subjective feeling of voluntariness in the
process of adaptation, (d) the importance of making timely plans
for life after an athletic career, (e) the importance of the resources
available for athletes, and (f) the fact that approximately 15e20% of
elite retired athletes need psychological assistance. As a conse-
quence, in their statements and recommendations the authors
emphasize that retirement planning, voluntary termination, mul-
tiple personal identities, availability of social support and active
coping strategies facilitate athletes' adaptation to post-career life.
These are aspects we have taken into account in our longitudinal
study. Note also that failure in coping with retirement is often
followed by negative consequences such as psychological pathol-
ogies or alcohol and drug abuse (McPherson, 1980; Wylleman,
Rosier, & De Knop, 2015). The quality of adaptation to a post-
sport career determines its success and we explore the relevant
issues involved. We next present key findings from our initial
prospective study and background on models of trajectories to
contextualize the work.
Main results on the prospective view of retirement from elite
athletes
In 2004 we interviewed 18 active Olympian athletes on their
prospective view of retirement from competitive sport (Torregrosa
et al., 2004). Using a grounded theory approach we identified three
different stages along which active athletes gradually build an
image of retirement from sport (i.e., initiation-training, maturity-
performance and the anticipation of retirement). In addition we
found that some of the aspects valued by retired athletes in other
studies were also important for active athletes. These included the
definition of retirement as a process rather than a moment, and a
preparation period for retirement. The aspects we identified in our
study are in line with those proposed by Stambulova et al. (2009) in
the ISSP Position Stand, mentioned in the previous section (i.e.,
retirement planning, voluntary termination, multiple personal
identities, availability of social support, and active coping strate-
gies). These issues were revisited in the longitudinal study.
Models of trajectory and the concept of dual careers
A relevant indicator of potential problems during and after
retirement from elite sport is an athlete being exclusively focused
on sport, and having a strong and unidimensional athletic identity.
This derives from anecdotal evidence on elite athletes having se-
vere problems after retirement from elite sport and research in
career transitions (see Park, Lavallee et al., 2012). Thus, policy
makers on different parts of the world aim to provide preventive
resources in order to balance an athletic career with education,
work and other life skills (EU Expert Group, 2012; USOC, 2012). In
Europe, the Expert Group promoted by the European Union pro-
posed a set of guidelines to promote dual careers for talented
athletes. The objective of the dual careers approach is to avoid
situations in which the talented athlete is forced to choose between
sport and education or work.
51
Related to the concept of dual careers, in the context of a semi-
professional sport Pallare
s, Azo

car, Torregrosa, Selva, and Ramis
(2011) proposed three different types of trajectories followed by
Spanish elite water polo players during their sporting career. Based
on content analysis of the interviews, they defined: (a) a linear
trajectory when the athlete is only focused in his/her sporting
career giving almost 100% dedication to sport and having an almost
exclusive athletic identity; (b) a convergent trajectory in which sport
is prioritized but is compatible with an alternative job or with
education, resulting in a more balanced multi-personal identity;
and (c) a parallel trajectory in which sport and higher education or
work are almost equally prioritized and the athlete shows a
balanced multi-personal identity. This proposal of trajectories has
been explored later in other sports and cultures (e.g., Azo
car, Pe

rez,

s, & Torregrosa, 2013) providing a frame to interpret the
Pallare
quality of adaptation to career transitions. In the present study this
model of trajectories has been used, with dual career illustrated by
both the convergent and parallel trajectories. We have found the
trajectory followed to be highly relevant in an athlete's handling of
the retirement process.
Qualitative longitudinal studies
A distinct feature of this study is its longitudinal nature,
including the prospective and retrospective view of retirement,
spanning a period of ten years. Epstein (2002) proposed three types
of approaches for qualitative longitudinal studies: (a) continuous
research in the same small society, (b) periodic studies at regular or
irregular intervals, and (c) return after a lengthy interval of time has
elapsed since the original research (p.64). Our study follows the
third approach and with a ten year gap between interviews, pro-
vides a particularly long term view of the retirement process. At the
time of the second interview all athletes were retired from elite
sport and had already passed through the adaptation process
following the transition. The qualitative longitudinal approach has
been used to study transitions in different life spheres such as
educational research (e.g., Gordon & Lahelma, 2003), or the tran-
sition from education to work (Kuhn & Witzel, 2000). However it
has been less used in sport psychology in general and in career
transition research in particular. In a recent systematic review of
126 studies on athletes' career transition out of sport, Park, Lavallee,
et al. (2012) identified 113 cross-sectional studies, but only 13
(10.3%) with a longitudinal design. Six are qualitative longitudinal
studies assessing transition processes on small samples of different
competitive levels, interviewed at least twice, four of them retro-
spective, and the longest, (Douglas & Carless, 2009), spanning six
years. In this study we conduct a qualitative longitudinal study with
a sample of high achieving Olympians over a longer period
providing their prospective view of retirement before making the
decision to retire and the retrospective view ten years later.
Purpose
The purpose of this qualitative longitudinal study is to evaluate
the influence that following a dual career or being exclusively
focused in sport can have in the retirement process of Olympians
with excellent sporting achievements. The opportunity of having
their prospective view of retirement investigated in our previous
research (Torregrosa et al., 2004) allows us to assess their accuracy
in predicting the process when we compare it with their retro-
spective accounts ten years later. This accuracy can be related to
their trajectory, including pre-retirement attitudes to critical as-
pects which bear relevance to post-career life.
52 M. Torregrosa et al. / Psychology of Sport and Exercise 21 (2015) 50e56

Methods Procedures

Participants Athletes participating in the previous study (Torregrosa et al.,

Fifteen athletes (10 male and 5 female) from the sample of 18 in
the prospective study (Torregrosa et al., 2004) were contacted and
agreed to participate in the follow-up. The three other athletes
were living abroad during the period of the retrospective in-
terviews and it was not possible to contact them.
Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of the sample. All of
them were already retired from Olympic competition. Eight ath-
letes competed in individual sports and 7 in team sports. From the
first step of the thematic analysis (See Table 2) athletes were clas-
sified regarding the type of trajectory mainly followed during their
sporting career: four athletes followed parallel, 5 convergent and 6
linear trajectories. The number of participations in Summer
Olympic Games of each athlete ranged from 1 to 5 and medals from
0 to 2. Age at retirement ranged from 25 to 40 and time since
retirement to the retrospective interviews ranged from 2 to 10
years. Thirteen athletes were retired both from Olympic and in-
ternational competitions. The remaining athletes, two competitive
sailors, had retired from Olympic events but were still participating
in international competitions.
Instruments
For the follow up study a semi-structured interview guide was
designed by the research team divided into two parts: (a) a shared
part for all athletes, and (b) an individualized part for each athlete.
The shared part included: (a) a review of the sporting career
since the first prospective interview until retirement from
competitive sport; (b) an analysis of the retirement process inves-
tigating if it was planned or unplanned; (c) a review of the transi-
tion period looking into its length and assessing how the athlete
coped at the sporting, personal, relational and vocational levels; (d)
the situation at the same levels in the period of the retrospective
interview; and (e) the institutional support received or not during
the period of transition.
In the individualized section the participant was prompted to
recall his/her view of retirement from elite sport given in the pro-
spective interviews. That vision was then compared with the situ-
ation they experienced during the process of retirement.
Similarities and differences between the prospective view and the
retrospective accounts at different levels were discussed between
the athlete and the researcher and are presented in the paired
quotes of the results section.
2004) were localized, if possible. All those who were able to be
contacted agreed to participate in the follow up study. Athletes
were informed of the purpose of the study, and three experienced
interviewers conducted the sessions at each participant's chosen
location, in the athlete's preferred language (Spanish or Catalan).
The interviews were first recorded (lasting from 45 to 60 min) and
then transcribed verbatim. At the end of the investigation, all par-
ticipants were sent a personalized letter thanking them for their
collaboration, giving them a summary of the main findings, and
inviting them to contact the research team for further feedback or
counseling, if so desired.
Data analyses
Data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis with a
deductive approach to the content (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This
analysis organizes and describes data in rich detail (Sparkes &
Smith, 2014). In order to conduct the thematic analysis proposed
by Braun and Clarke (2006), we followed six steps (see Table 2).
Software Atlas.ti 7 was used as an assistant to organize data codi-
fication and interview analyses.
We ensured descriptive validity (e.g., interviews were audio-
recorded, transcript verbatim and proofread by a different
researcher) and theoretical validity (e.g., the authors met and dis-
cussed the categorization of each code in relation to the theoretical
framework) in order to guarantee the rigor of the results (Maxwell,
2002). All five authors participated in the thematic analysis and the
process of triangulation.
Results
The process of analysis consisted in the comparison between the
prospective views and retrospective recalls of athletes regarding (a)
retirement planning, (b) voluntary termination, (c) multiple per-
sonal identities, (d) availability of social support, and (e) active
coping strategies. The main type of trajectory followed during the
sporting career was observed as a factor modulating the experience
in each dimension.
Retirement planning
The athletes that followed parallel (27%) or convergent (33%)
trajectories (dual careers) were aware in the prospective interviews

Table 1
Description of participants.

Participant Gender Sport Type of trajectory Olympic participations (Medals) Age at retirement Years retired

Athlete 1 Female Individual Parallel 2 (0) 25 7

Athlete 2 Female Individual Linear 4 (2) 35 2
Athlete 3 Female Individual Convergent 2 (0) 36 6
Athlete 4 Female Individual Convergent 1 (1) 25 9
Athlete 5 Female Team Parallel 2 (0) 34 5
Athlete 6 Male Individual Convergent 5 (0) 40 10
Athlete 7 Male Individual Parallel 1 (0) 28 8
Athlete 8 Male Individual Linear 1 (0) 37 6
Athlete 9 Male Individual Linear 3 (1) 34 10
Athlete 10 Male Team Linear 4 (2) 33 4
Athlete 11 Male Team Convergent 5 (2) 38 7
Athlete 12 Male Team Linear 4 (2) 35 7
Athlete 13 Male Team Convergent 4 (1) 37 10
Athlete 14 Male Team Linear 1 (1) 33 10
Athlete 15 Male Team Parallel 2 (2) 33 10
 M. Torregrosa et al. / Psychology of Sport and Exercise 21 (2015) 50e56 53

Table 2
Description of the steps followed in the thematic analysis.

Steps Description

1. Familiarization with the data and allocation of athletes
to the type of trajectory
2. Creation of the initial codes based on the purpose
of the study
3. Grouping of the codes in main themes
4. Refinement of the themes
5. Definition and designation of the themes
6. Producing the report
Transcribe interviews, reread transcriptions, detect main ideas, and allocate athletes to trajectory type.
Define concepts according to the literature “retirement planning, voluntary termination, multiple
personal identities, availability of social support and active coping strategies”. Find examples in data
and specify when concepts can be used or not. Systematically code most relevant features of the data.
Compile and classify relevant information concerning each raw code. Generate visual representations
in order to facilitate code classification into main themes.
Analysis of the themes at two different levels. First we checked if they made sense in relation to the
code extracts. Second, we checked whether the themes fitted to the data both in the prospective and
retrospective interviews.
Analysis and clear definition of each theme. Moreover, an informative name was chosen for each theme
(see Table 3).
Selection of relevant quotations representing good examples for each theme in the study at the moment
of the manuscript development.

(P) that planning retirement in advance would make the transition
easier. As a team sport player said “There are people who dedicate
what they earn to business. But I have chosen the way I think is
better, which is studying and having academic training. It will
facilitate my entering into the labor market, contacts are not
enough” (A15P). Ten years later the same athlete reported, in the
retrospective interview (R), a vital experience of an easy and fast
transition to an alternative professional career, to some extent
attributed to luck “I'm lucky because I studied sports sciences. I
planned to live from sport and I did it. I work in the city hall as head
of the sports planning service” (A15R). Similar experiences were
reported by most of the athletes following parallel or convergent
trajectories and only one of the athletes of this group reported
severe difficulties in spite of retirement planning (see the quotation
of A3R in the synthesis and specificity of results).
In the prospective interviews, athletes' following a linear path
(40%) were not planning retirement and saw sport as almost their
only possibility of an alternative professional career. As expressed
by a male athlete from a team sport “Some days I would like to
follow my career in sport, by being a coach. Some other days I think
that I'll be burnt-out. I would also like to be a PE teacher in a school.
For this reason I also like sport sciences” (A10P). The lack of plan-
ning in the prospective interviews was manifested in stress and
difficulties during retirement, reported in the retrospective in-
terviews by all the athletes following linear trajectories (n ¼ 6). The
same male athlete from a team sport stated “When I left the na-
tional team I began to have this need. All the alarms rang in my
head and I tried to look for an attractive way out” (A10R).
Voluntary termination
In the prospective interviews all athletes expressed the belief
that in the future they would be able to choose their moment or
period for retirement. It was expressed by athletes in parallel and
convergent trajectories (60% of the sample). “When I'll see that this
is not good for me I'll knock on another door, I'll have another job”
(A6P), as well as by athletes in linear trajectories (40% of the sam-
ple) “While I have competitive life I'll try to keep competing [ … ]
my intention is to keep living from sport. We will see at what level,
in the ministry of sports or any interesting thing” (A8P). In the
retrospective accounts voluntary termination had become true for
those athletes in parallel and convergent trajectories that had
planned retirement in advance. The same athlete expressed “I
stayed because I wanted and I left when I wanted to. It is similar to
changing a job. It is not that I was fed-up but the benefit was not
enough, so I left and I left happy” (A6R). This was less true for most
of the athletes (five out of six) in linear trajectories “I left Olympic
competition because this man [the Federation Chair] did not allow
me to continue, although the federation supported me. [ … ] Then I
came back [ … ] and in 2008 a new federation board arrived and
sacked me” (A8R).
Voluntary termination is not always possible in sport. Injuries
are common triggers of retirement. This was the case for two ath-
letes in this study regardless of the type of trajectory they followed
(parallel and linear). In a prospective interview one of these ath-
letes following a parallel trajectory predicted “I know that it will
finish one day. It is a period of my life that one day must finish, but I
want to be the one deciding to stop” (A1P). In a similar way a team
sport player following a linear trajectory stated “I think that it is
important to know when to retire. It is important to be able to
choose the moment. It is very sad to see how some athletes drag
themselves on the fields” (A14P). However, in both cases it was an
injury that made them decide to retire: “It was unexpected because
the year before the Olympics I injured my back, I pushed for the
Olympics but after that I quit” (A1R). “I stopped for one year
because of a knee injury, then I changed to a lower club, but the
knee was still hurting. I did not finish as planned” (A14R).
Multiple personal identities
In the prospective interviews all athletes following parallel and
convergent trajectories mentioned more than one personal identity
“I go to the classes in the morning and you meet completely
different people that never speak about sport. Moreover you have
to dress like a person because I'm all day in my jocks” (A5P).
Whereas most of the athletes in linear paths (five out of six) had a
very strong and almost one-dimensional athletic identity focused
only in their results as athletes “I think that I'll be always sailing. I
don't know if competing or not, but sailing. It is my world, I always
lived in it, I like it and I will not leave it. I need the sea” (A2P).
In the retrospective interviews athletes with multiple personal
identities (n ¼ 10) reported easier transitions and adaptation pro-
cesses. This was true, even in those cases when what was planned
did not always happen in the end. “What I did ok was to study,
regardless of the fact that I'm not working in what I studied. In this
way if I would not be working at the federation, I could be working
in any other thing” (A5R). On the other hand, athletes in linear
trajectories and with a one-dimensional identity reported more
difficulties and a lack of security in the transition period “When you
are in this world you are in a bubble in which you feel safe, if you
have to get out you feel insecure” (A2R).
Availability of social support
Athletes in parallel and convergent trajectories (n ¼ 9) reported
in the prospective interviews that they perceived social support
54 M. Torregrosa et al. / Psychology of Sport and Exercise 21 (2015) 50e56
available at different levels. For example, a male from a team sport
expressed “It was easy to find a job because here all people from our
sport are like a family. We all know each other, and I had people in
the club that offered me a job and I started working in a printing
office” (A13P). However, those athletes in linear trajectories, not
planning for retirement and with a one-dimensional athletic
identity (n ¼ 4) reported in the prospective interviews the lack of
social support available “My parents are 3000 km away, we keep
contact on the phone, I don't have a partner nowadays [ … ] and my
friends are those from the sport world” (A8P).
In the retrospective interviews most of the athletes in parallel
and convergent trajectories (eight out of nine) reported a high
perception of social support available both during and after the
transition “I feel very comfortable in public relations. If I can give a
hand I always think about it, and if someone offers something I
always listen and then I evaluate its viability” (A13R). On the other
hand the athletes in linear trajectories with one-dimensional ath-
letic identity (n ¼ 5) perceived a lack of social support and in some
cases (n ¼ 2) other derived problems such as alcohol or drug abuse
“I feel that I've passed a period of loneliness in family, sporting, and
other matters [ … ] in the last months I went to bed after six drinks
every other day and three years ago it was everyday” (A8R).
Active coping strategies
Referring to active coping strategies, in the prospective in-
terviews, some athletes in parallel and convergent trajectories
(n ¼ 7) reported a sense of autonomy in decision making and a
balance between different life spheres (i.e., sport, family, work/
studies) “For my professional future my nine years working helped
me a lot. I think that this is very important” (A11P). On the other
hand, athletes in linear trajectories (n ¼ 6) reported the use of
reactive coping strategies. Decisions were made ad hoc when
events happened, rather than being premeditated. “I'm studying
but I don't know if I will finish. If I don't I'll ring the bell and ask if
they have something to offer me, and I'll decide if I want what they
offer me” (A12P). In the follow-up retrospective interviews athletes
in convergent and parallel paths that previously reported active
coping strategies, reported less adaptation problems during and
after the retirement process both in personal and professional sit-
uations “When I was 24 I started working while playing. While
others went to the beach or to rest I put on my tie and went to
work” (A11R). On the other hand, athletes in linear trajectories who
described reactive coping strategies in the prospective interviews
reported severe adaptation problems both at personal and profes-
sional levels during and following the retirement moment. “I could
have taken advantage of the transition moment to study something
or work, but I was personally bad, hooked on alcohol and drugs and
I changed the national team for wild parties all summer” (A12R).
Synthesis and specificity of results
Table 3 shows a synthesis of the results based on the themes
identified as a result of the thematic analysis. Athletes in parallel
and convergent trajectories (n ¼ 9) were aware and conscious of
the importance of retirement planning and offered some possibil-
ities richly described in the prospective interviews. In the retro-
spective accounts they acknowledge retirement planning as a key
aspect that made transition faster and easier in most cases.
Voluntary termination was a strong belief in the prospective in-
terviews that became true in the retrospective interviews, except
for one athlete having to retire due to an injury. They showed
several personal identities in the prospective interviews that
facilitated transition and opened up different possibilities, some
expected and some unexpected. Most of the athletes (n ¼ 8) in
parallel and convergent trajectories perceived a high degree of
social support in the prospective views. This was confirmed in the
retrospective interviews, referring to both during and after retire-
ment from elite competition. These athletes showed a sense of
autonomy in decision making during the prospective interviews
and reported a lack of severe problems related to the transition
during and after retirement from elite sport.
In contrast, most of the athletes following linear trajectories in
sport (n ¼ 6), reported a lack of retirement planning in the pro-
spective interviews and multiple possibilities which were poorly
defined, and focused only in sport. In the retrospective interviews
they acknowledge a late awareness and consciousness of the need
for planning retirement that made the transition slow and very
difficult. Voluntary termination was also a strong belief for those
athletes. But they admitted in the retrospective interviews that in
their situation the voluntariness was not real in the end, in one case
because of an injury, and in all other cases due to the lack of al-
ternatives to elite sport. Athletes in linear trajectories perceived a
lack of social support in the prospective interviews that made them
feel alone trying to cope with everything. This recognition of lack of
social support was confirmed during and after retirement and re-
ported in the retrospective interviews. Finally, during the pro-
spective interviews athletes following linear trajectories reported
reactive coping strategies and a sense of being always behind.
Those athletes reported more difficulties than their colleagues
following dual careers and in some cases (n ¼ 2) severe adaptation
problems during and after retirement from competitive sport. In
general, although the type of trajectory (i.e., linear, convergent and
parallel) is related to the way in which the athletes experience
retirement from sport, being typically easier for those following
dual career (i.e., convergent and parallel trajectories), this is not
always the case. While showing trends our qualitative methodol-
ogy allowed us to pick up specific cases which did not follow the
general pattern. We found an athlete following a convergent tra-
jectory, having been forced by circumstances and not convinced,
who had a very diffuse image of retirement in the prospective
interview. This individual had severe problems during and after
retirement. “I asked to work only part time to be able to train better
[ … ] although my dream would be to be able to live only on sport
and not to worry about other issues” (A3P); “You hit rock bottom, I
didn't expect it, because I thought I had my life solved with my
studies and everything [ … ] when you face it you feel disoriented”
(A3R). On the other hand, one of the athletes following a linear
trajectory reported an accurate image of retirement in the pro-
spective interview. With multiple personal identities he had an
easy and fast transition to an alternative career “I miss very much
my hometown, when I will retire I don't want to move every year.
We had a daughter this year and I don't want a nomad life. If it is
possible I would like to coach children in a team in my hometown”
(A14P); “The year after retirement I started coaching. Now I am a
coach in third division and I don't want to go anywhere, I had offers
to move to better teams but I'm very happy here with my wife and
the children. I'm very comfortable in my hometown “(A14R).
Discussion
This qualitative longitudinal study shows that athletes that
followed dual careers (including convergent and parallel trajec-
tories) shared a profile characterized by retirement planning,
voluntary retirement, multiple personal identities, availability of
social support and active coping strategies. These factors tended to
facilitate the process of retirement from elite sport and the tran-
sition to an alternative professional career. On the contrary, athletes
that followed linear trajectories showed a pattern of lack of
retirement planning, involuntary termination, one-dimensional
 M. Torregrosa et al. / Psychology of Sport and Exercise 21 (2015) 50e56
Table 3
Defined themes derived from the thematic analysis.
Theme name Parallel/convergent trajectories
Prospective interview Retrospective interview
Retirement Awareness and consciousness Key aspect
planning Some possibilities richly Made the transition fast and not very difficult
defined
Voluntary Strong belief Became true in most cases
termination
Multiple personal Several personal identities Facilitated transition and opened different possibilities Single personal identity as Made the transition much
identities
Availability of Strong perception of social Social support confirmed during and after retirement Lack of social support
social support support
Active coping Sense of autonomy in Lack of severe problems related to the transition
strategies decision making during and after retirement from sport
athletic identity, lack of social support and reactive coping strate-
gies which made this transition more difficult.
In the prospective interviews of athletes that followed dual ca-
reers we observed a pattern of awareness and consciousness of
retirement planning, a strong belief in voluntary termination,
several personal identities, a strong perception of social support,
and a sense of autonomy in decision making. This pattern and the
expectations that derive from it, were confirmed in the retrospec-
tive interviews with the same athletes. On the other hand in the
prospective interviews of elite athletes in linear trajectories we
typically found a lack of retirement planning, a strong belief in a
voluntary termination, a one-dimensional personal identity as an
athlete, a lack of perceived social support, and a reactive coping
style that gave them a sense of being always behind external
events. In the post-retirement interviews we found evidence that
the unrealistic expectations of these athletes were not met.
Specifically, related to this congruence between the prospective
and retrospective interviews, we have found that athletes following
dual careers (i.e., parallel and convergent trajectories) were more
accurate in anticipating the complexities of the retirement process.
In contrast, those in linear trajectories were less realistic about their
ability to cope with retirement. As dual career athletes had devel-
oped different identities they had more resources to deal with non-
athletic spheres. On the other hand, athletes on linear trajectories
only felt comfortable in the athletic domain and at the moment of
retirement used poor coping strategies such as avoidance or denial.
In our results we have found examples of loss of athletic identity as
anticipated by previous studies (Park, Lavallee, & Tod, 2012). And in
some cases problems of substance abuse like those reported by
McPherson (1980).
Our results confirm the findings in the review by Stambulova
et al. (2009) referring to multi-causality of career termination,
great inter-individual differences in the reactions to retirement,
and the need of some athletes for psychological assessment. As
shown in this study, encouraging dual careers can help to minimize
the proportion of athletes needing psychological support. Retire-
ment planning, voluntary termination, multiple personal identities,
the availability of social support and active coping strategies make
the transition to an alternative professional career easier, especially
for athletes in parallel and convergent trajectories. However, not
taking into account all these dimensions makes retirement more
difficult particularly for those athletes following linear trajectories.
Torregrosa et al. (2004) proposed that active athletes had a view
of retirement that became clearer and more accurate as they were
aging and advancing in their sporting career. The present study
adds new information and checks the accurateness of the view in
55
Linear trajectory
Prospective interview Retrospective interview
Lack of planning Late awareness and
Multiple possibilities poorly consciousness
defined and only focused Made transition slow and
in sport very difficult
Strong belief It was not real due to the lack
of alternatives
athlete more difficult
Lack of social support
perceived confirmed during and after
retirement
Reactive coping strategies Severe adaptation problems
sense of being always behind during and after retirement
from sport
the prospective interviews. The retrospective interviews with the
same athletes confirmed that their initial view bore close resem-
blance to reality, for most of the athletes following convergent and
parallel trajectories. However, we evidenced that the prospective
view of retirement was less accurate and quite distant to what
happened later for most of the athletes following linear trajectories.
Inviting participants to provide their thoughts and views related
to retirement from elite sport before, and a considerable time after
taking this step provides valuable accounts from athletes regarding
the process experienced and does not merely give a snapshot of a
moment or only a retrospective report of a process. Thus, the use of
a qualitative longitudinal study as proposed by Epstein (2002) gives
a more complete view of career transition and retirement, over-
coming one of the limitations in knowledge in the field highlighted
by Park, Lavallee, et al. (2012).
Nevertheless, this study also has constraints that should be
mentioned. First, the sample of participants comprised a very
specific group of elite Olympic athletes competing in Summer
Olympic Games, some of them winning medals and having very
successful sporting careers. Thus, the generalization of the results is
limited. Second, the qualitative longitudinal study was based only
on two interviews in a ten years period. Although different authors
(e.g., Epstein, 2002) indicated that this is enough for qualitative
longitudinal designs, we think that at least a third interview would
improve the quality of the data obtained. This third interview could
be planned in a time frame (i.e., five years after the first one) or even
better on a conceptual frame (i.e., during actual retirement stage).
For further studies, it would be interesting to complement the
qualitative results of this study with quantitative data on motiva-
tion, basic needs satisfaction, coping strategies and other psycho-
logical variables from a point of view which allows a holistic and
developmental perspective on the pre-retirement career stages
which athletes will face (e.g., Wylleman, Reints, & De Knop, 2013).
It would be also interesting to use theoretical frameworks from
other fields of psychology as Park, Tod et al. (2012) have done,
applying the trans-theoretical model to career termination, to
career transition in general and dual careers in particular.
In summary, from this qualitative longitudinal study we
conclude that promoting dual careers and working on the pro-
spective view of retirement can facilitate retirement from elite
sport and the transition to an alternative professional career.
Authors note
This research was supported in part by grant Ministerio de

n (DEP2010-15561).
Ciencia e Innovacio
56 M. Torregrosa et al. / Psychology of Sport and Exercise 21 (2015) 50e56
Acknowledgments
Andrea Pe
rez collaborated in data collection and transcription.
Rosemary Thwaite provided language help in writing this article.
The authors want to thank their collaboration.
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