Life after sport – what's next for athletes?

Although the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Games have closed, a question lingers in my mind – what do athletes usually do for a living after retirement?

Not so in vogue as football or basketball or tennis, many sports actually don't get as much attention except during major competitions like the Olympics.

Although they have salaries, subsidies and bonuses for winning medals in major events, most athletes don't earn highly enough to cover the cost of living after retirement.

One case is former Chinese gymnast Zhang Shangwu who became a street entertainer after retirement and later even committed theft.

Given their relatively shorter careers and greater susceptibility to physical injuries, a second career is what athletes have to reckon with.

This is a topic discussed from time to time but still lacks suitable solutions. Now it seems that social media may bring them more opportunities and vast prospects.

Wang Meng, China's four-time Olympic champion for short-track speed skating, attracted a huge amount of attention and online traffic as a commentator during the Beijing 2022.

Her commentary full of humor and expertise was trending on China's major social media during the Olympics, and her quotes and memes were widely spread.

On Weibo, the hashtag #WangMengCommentary has attracted 2.69 billion reads and over half a million related posts and comments.

To date, Wang has earned more than 6.8 million followers on Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok), over 2 million followers on Weibo, and nearly a million on Chinese video-sharing website Bilibili. A video she uploaded on Bilibili on February 6, just after her commentary went viral, has already garnered 6.85 million views.

She has shown deep concern for ex-athletes, and is running a multi-channel sports network (MCN) organization to provide employment opportunities for many retired athletes.

Almost all the employees the organization hires are ex-athletes – not only well-known medal winners but also the less prominent ones.

For athletes with certain degrees of fame, it will help them operate their own accounts on various social media platforms and develop their commercial value. As for those with less recognition and popularity, they will be doing some behind-the-scenes work like as cameramen, lightning technicians or video editors.

Currently, major options for retired athletes include being coaches or referees, participating in variety shows and television series, like former diver Tian Liang who is now an actor, or creating their own brands, such as former champion gymnast Li Ning.

However, only a few top athletes can achieve that.

Aside from more supportive policies from the governments for the employment of retired athletes, it would be a great help if there were more organizations and companies such as Wang's willing to offer them more adequate job opportunities.

I do hope that retired athletes, who have spent their youth training and competing for national pride, will receive more societal support to create a better future for themselves.