Qualitative Analysis of Olympic and Paralympic Retirement with a Focus on Resources Allocated to Athletes

Veteran athletes are vital to success in sport at the elite level. Veteran athletes bring experience, leadership, and readiness to learn to their sport. Like most sports organizations, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and U.S. National Governing Bodies aim for the highest level of success in their sport, and therefore should desire to retain capable athletes. This study aimed to discover what sport organizations like the USOPC and NGBs could do to prolong the career of Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Nine Olympic and Paralympic athletes who competed in the Tokyo 2020/Beijing 2022 Games completed surveys and were interviewed about their reasons for retirement and overall experience. It was found that athletic retirement is multi-dimensional and there is a heavy intersection between reasons for retirement. The most common reasons for retirement were financial or work/study related. Other cited factors were career satisfaction, age, and injury. In conclusion, if U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams want to retain veteran athletes and increase competitiveness, then resources pertaining to financial resources and exploring ways to aid athletes in their pursuit of education or work while training should be a primary focus.Bachelor of Art