Where Are They Now: Life After Olympic Gold
Updated: Feb. 08, 2017These celebrated Olympic champions from decades past wrote sports history, but what are they up to now? Here’s the latest on some of the greatest.
Mary Lou Retton
How you know her: Gold Medals in Gymnastics
(1984 Los Angeles
Games)
Where she is today: Retton continues to encourage others as a motivational speaker and active member of the Children’s Miracle Network. As founder of Mary Lou’s Weigh, Retton spreads the message of healthy weight loss and a balanced nutrition with a reinvented bathroom scale—one that never shows the starting weight.
Edwin Moses
How you know him: Gold Medals in 400 Meters Hurdles
(1976 Montreal
Games, 1984 Los Angeles Games).
Where he is today: Moses earned a degree
in physics and later held a full-time job as an aerospace engineer. After retirement, he earned his master’s degree in business. In 2000, Moses took on the role of executive chairman of Laureus, a London nonprofit foundation that raises funds to, fittingly, coach and educate 1.5 million kids in developing countries.
Greg Louganis
How you know him: Gold Medals in Diving
(1984 Los Angeles Games, 1988 Seoul
Games)
Where he is today: Louganis was diagnosed with AIDS and retired in 1989. It wasn’t until the mid-90s that he announced he was HIV-positive. Since then, Louganis has been an outspoken advocate for HIV awareness and LGBT equality.
Carl Lewis
How you know him: Gold Medals in 100 meters, 200 meters, Long Jump
(1984 Los Angeles
Games, 1988 Seoul
Games, 1992 Barcelona
Games, 1996 Atlanta
Games)
Where he is today: Lewis was drafted for both the Chicago Bulls and Dallas Cowboys, but decided not to play. He now travels the country as the spokesperson for the Hershey’s Track and Field Games.
Mark Spitz
How you know him: Gold Medals in Swimming (1968 Mexico City Games, 1972 Munich
Games)
Where he is today: Spitz retired at age 22 and dabbled in show business, appearing in numerous television shows and commercials. Now, Spitz is a motivational speaker, father, and husband.
Bruce Jenner
How you know him: Gold Medal in Decathalon
(1976 Montreal
Games)
Where he is today: You probably see Jenner all over reality TV—he’s Dad to the high-profile crew on
“Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” Jenner is also a sportscaster and commentator for the Olympics Games.
Dick Fosbury
How you know him: Gold Medal in High Jump
(1968 Mexico City
Games)
Where he is today: Fosbury is an executive committee member of the World Olympians Association, an alumni group for former athletes. But he hasn’t left the tracks just yet—he coaches young athletes at Dick Fosbury Track Camps.
Kerri Strug
How you know her: Gold Medal in Gymnastics
(1996 Atlanta), when she competed through the pain of a sprained ankle to land the gold-winning vault.
Where she is today: Strug lives in Tucson, Arizona, and welcomed her first son in March. She does public relations for USA Gymnastics, speaking regularly at events and attending the Games on behalf of sponsors.
Dominique Dawes
How you know her: Gold Medal in Gymnastics
(1996 Atlanta
Games)
Where she is today: President Barack Obama appointed her and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees as co-chairs of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. Dawes is also the co-host for Yahoo! News Weekend Edition.
Oscar De La Hoya
How you know him: Gold Medal in Boxing
(1992 Barcelona
Games)
Where he is today: De La Hoya released a bilingual Grammy-nominated album,
Oscar, which topped Latin dance charts; now, he can be found perfecting his swing on the golf course.
Bob Beamon
How you know him: Gold Medal in Long Jump (1968 Mexico City
Games)
Where he is today: Beamon is the CEO of the Art of the Olympians Museum in Fort Myers, Florida, as well as an established graphic artist whose original designs are printed on neckties and pens.
Joan Benoit Samuelson
How you know her: Gold Medal in Marathon
(1984 Los Angeles
Games)
Where she is today: Samuelson continues to run competitively and break records for her age group, racking up 75 miles each week. (She’s logged nearly 150,000 miles in her lifetime!) As a spokeswoman for Nike, she’s one of the congratulatory voices on the company’s iPod sports kit.
Gail Devers
How you know her: Gold Medals in 100 meters, 4×100 meters relay
(1992 Barcelona
Games, 1996 Atlanta
Games)—and her outrageously painted fingernails.
Where she is today: In 2007, Devers retired from the sport and now stays fit by playing tag with her two daughters in the backyard of her Atlanta home. She regularly volunteers at the local elementary school (her husband dubbed her “Ms. PTA”) and gives motivational speeches. As for her fingernails, they’ve been cut short for practicality’s sake.
Amy Chow
How you know her: Gold Medal in Gymnastics
(1996 Atlanta
Games)
Where she is today: Chow is a pediatrician at Palo Alto Medical Foundation in California who practices general pediatrics with—of course—a sports-medicine focus.
