Athletes Retirements Thread

[rybak 3,217]

 Robert Urbanek (athletics, discus throw) end his long career.

[NearPup 3,045]

Two-time short track Olympian  Maame Biney is retiring, seemingly due to injury.

Edited October 18 by NearPup

[Grassmarket 3,404]

Pretty impressive retirement credentials for  track cyclist Dan Bigham - he goes off to become head of engineering at Red Bull-Bora!   So not just your usual punch-drunk ex-sportsman. 

[Grassmarket 3,404]

 400m runner Pavel Maslak.  Nobody really wants to be remembered as an indoor World Champion & nothing else, but it's more than 99% of runners achieve.

 

https://worldathletics.org/news/news/pavel-maslak-retirement

[Josh 10,504]

 Sarah Pavan (beach volleyball)

 

World Champion in 2019 (although I wasn’t a fan of this sport back then, as I only started watching in 2021 or so, I have watched the match back on YouTube and they played unbelievably well) and former World #1 alongside Humana-Parades (they were also the #1 team at Tokyo 2020), Former World #3 alongside Bansley, Two time Olympian in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 (Bansley/Humana-Parades, both quarterfinal finishes), Back-to-back Commonwealth Games champions in Gold Coast 2018/Birmingham 2022 and a winner of numerous World Tour and Pro Tour medals

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBY_SLSPdQ4/?igsh=MTZwZTU3ajhiOHRneQ==

[heywoodu 15,135]

On 10/19/2024 at 11:19 AM, Grassmarket said:

Pretty impressive retirement credentials for  track cyclist Dan Bigham - he goes off to become head of engineering at Red Bull-Bora!   So not just your usual punch-drunk ex-sportsman. 

Wasn't that already his job at INEOS before becoming more known as a cyclist himself?  

[Grassmarket 3,404]

1 hour ago, heywoodu said:

Wasn't that already his job at INEOS before becoming more known as a cyclist himself?  

It was something of the kind.  Rather like Kristian Bromley who went from studying ice sliding theoretically as a PhD student to being skeleton World Champion. 

[Josh 10,504]

 Dominic Thiem (tennis)

[Epic Failure 355]

12 hours ago, heywoodu said:

Wasn't that already his job at INEOS before becoming more known as a cyclist himself?  

Technically he became known as the 'brains' behind a small independent trade team that was outperforming national teams, before then working with the Danish TP in Tokyo.

 

It was after all that happened that INEOS/GB finally came calling. I think they never fully appreciated his talents until it was almost too late.

[Josh 10,504]

 Steve Wijler (archery)

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DBj29vnC73T/?igsh=MXBwanZzMmZ0ZDE3dg==