You can only hold a trophy aloft, cross the finish line or top the podium so many times in a professional sports career.
For many athletes, the participation phase of their life can come to an end as early as their twenties or thirties, leaving a hopefully long and healthy stretch of life ahead of them. The question is, how to fill it?
Some stay around the spot they excelled in, perhaps as a coach or in an advisory capacity. Others take a completely different path and excel in the sort of fields where you’d never see a discus flung or javelin thrown. ±«Óătv Bitesize takes a closer look.
Philip Noel-Baker: Won Olympic silver and the Nobel Peace Prize
In 1920, when many people were still coming to terms with the impact of World War One, the Belgian city of Antwerp hosted the Olympic Games.
It was there that British middle-distance runner Philip Noel-Baker took silver behind team-mate Albert Hill in the men's 1,500m final, making it a GB one-two.
Noel-Baker captained the British track team in 1920 and also at the Paris Games in 1924. He was also involved in the organisation of the 1948 Games in London.
Before that, however - in the years immediately after World War One - he played a key role in the establishment of the League of Nations, helping to draft the covenant (or charter) of the League, which was signed at the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.
Much later, at the end of World War Two, he was called upon to draft the charter of what would become the United Nations.
Noel-Baker, an MP at various points between 1929 and 1970, was opposed to war throughout his life and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1959 for his (as the official Nobel website states): “long-standing contribution to the cause of disarmament and peace.”
Noel-Baker lived to a great age. He died in 1982, aged 92.
Danielle Brown: Hit a bullseye in the book world
In 2010, archer Danielle Brown made history as the first Paralympian athlete to represent England at the Commonwealth Games in an able-bodied team - just a couple of days before cyclist Sarah Storey achieved the same feat. Brown’s skill helped the women’s team take gold in Delhi, matching the colour of the individual medals she took home from the Beijing and London Paralympics.
Brown was all set to take part at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio, but a change in the classification for the event in 2013 meant she was unable to compete in para-archery any longer.
The five-time world champion started to explore other areas where she could best use her talents and, among other roles such as motivational speaking and helping young people with their wellbeing, Brown became a children’s author.
Her 2022 book, Run Like a Girl, which examines the lives of sportswomen such as boxer Nicola Adams and the sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur, was joint winner of the Sunday Times’ Children’s Sports Book of the Year.
Montell Douglas and Harry Aikines-Aryettey: From the athletics track to the Gladiators arena
Originally an ITV Saturday night staple in the 1990s, Gladiators returned to UK screens in January 2024 - this time on the ±«Óătv and making anyone who was a kid around 30 years ago feel pangs of nostalgia.
Sixteen people make up the squad of near-superhuman Gladiators who take on members of the public in games such as Hang Tough and The Wall. Not surprisingly, many of them come from a background of sporting success, with two in particular knowing all about the pressures of competing on the Olympic athletics track.
Montell Douglas, aka Fire, has represented the UK at both the Summer and Winter Games. Her time of 11.05 seconds in the 100m sprint was a British record and she took gold in the 4x100m relay at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.
In 2022, Douglas represented her country in something altogether different - this time in the bobsled at the Winter Olympics, having competed at the event since 2016.
Her Gladiators teammate Toby Olubi (Phantom), also competed for Team GB in bobsleigh while Jodie Ounsley (Fury) has represented her country as part of England’s Women’s Rugby team.
In 2005, sprinter Harry Aikines-Aryettey won the ±«Óătv’s Young Sports Personality of the Year, after taking 100m and 200m gold at the World Youth Championship. He has also won senior titles at Commonwealth, European and World championship level. Aikines-Aryettey hasn’t retired from sprinting, but has found time to appear as Nitro on the show, demonstrating his agility as well as his speed.
Ian Roberts: Rugby league, the silver screen and advocacy
Some athletes can transform their sport in more ways than one.
In the 1990s, Ian Roberts was the highest-paid rugby league player in Australia, appearing for club and country - even spending a short time playing for Wigan in the UK.
In 1995, he publicly stated that he was gay. This was the first time a player in Australia had been so open about their private life in this way. He remembered the experience in a 2023 ±«Óătv interview, saying: “I felt like I could breathe out properly for the first time in a long time.”
After leaving rugby, Ian trained as an actor, enrolling in Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) - where actor Cate Blanchett also studied. Roberts went on to play roles in films such as the Star Wars prequel Attack of the Clones in 2002 and Superman Returns in 2006 and he continues to act regularly on TV. He is also an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and a board member of Qtopia, Australia’s first Pride museum.
This article was published in July 2024.
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