Olympic Athletes’ Experiences of a Post Games Career Transition Program
in The Sport PsychologistClick name to view affiliation
Search for other papers by Siobhain McArdle in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Phil Moore in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Deirdre Lyons in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Career pathways in high performance sport include a number of emotionally resonant transitions. Sport systems must be able to effectively support the athlete’s endeavors to negotiate such challenges. This study investigated qualitatively the experiences of Olympic athletes who took part in a three-tier, post-games career transition support program. The aim of the program was to increase athletes’ coping resources to successful negotiate the post-Olympic period. Ten athletes who participated in the program were recruited to participate in semi structured individual interviews. Directed content analysis was employed to identify key themes in the data. Athletes perceived two components of the program as particularly helpful, the normalization of the emotional and psychological challenge of the post Games period and the use of problem focused coping to redirect athlete focus to the future. The findings from this study provide a preliminary framework for the planning of future post-Games career transition support programs.
McArdle is with the School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland. Moore and Lyons are with the Irish Institute of Sport, Dublin, Ireland.
© 2023 Human Kinetics