Olympic medalists are among the most outstanding individuals on the globe. Outstanding individuals generally excel later in life. Check out some of the greatest Olympians and how they are doing today.
Tara Lipinski
Tara Lipinski created history by becoming the 1997 World Figure Skating Champion at the age of 14 years, nine months, and ten days. The American skating sensation followed this accomplishment with Olympic gold in the 1998 Olympics, but when she turned professional that same year, she was no longer able to compete in contests. The media slammed her, with one journalist comparing it to joining the circus. Lipinski left her professional career in 2002, but subsequently stated that she was looking for something new, so she began working as a sports commentator.
Simone Biles
Biles is considered one of the greatest gymnasts in the world, with four gold medals and a slew of other gymnastics medals that make her the most decorated American gymnast. Since bringing home those golds in Rio 2016, she took a break but couldn’t stay away from the sport forever. With the Tokyo Olympics postponed until 2021, there’s still uncertainty over what exactly will happen, but Biles will likely be the biggest face of those competing.
Brooke Bennett
American swimmer Brooke Bennett had lost her grandfather mere days before winning big at Atlanta 1996. Despite the tragedy, winning gold anyway was a huge success story, although this personal story might have been overshadowed by swimming star Janet Beth Evans’ last appearance at the Games. Bennett won two more gold medals at the 2000 Olympics but was unable to qualify for the 2004 Olympics. She retired from competitive swimming, yet she coaches high school, opened and runs the Brooke Bennett Swim School, and swims marathons.
Carly Patterson
Carly Patterson was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame thanks to her performances in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, which was the first time an American won the all-around competition in a non-boycotted Olympics. After this, she was forced to retire because of an injury she realized she had in her back. “Carly,” she was told by her doctor, “you really need to stop if you want to be able to walk when you get older.” Patterson since then launched her music career as a singer/songwriter.
Nastia Liukin
Nastia Liukin is the daughter of two Russian gymnastic champions who had moved to the U.S., so she was fated to become a star gymnast from the start. Raised in America, she represented the U.S. in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, where she won five medals. Liukin didn’t make the team for the 2012 Olympics, though this didn’t stop her from branching out. She’s made many appearances at special events and on TV, including Dancing with the Stars and Ninja Warrior.
Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps smashed fellow American Mark Spitz’s records, winning an incredible 23 Olympic gold medals. This brings his total Olympic medals up to 28. After 2012, sit was thought that he had retired, yet in 2016 he returned to the Olympic Games, this time in Rio, and dominated the competition. They were his fourth Games. Besides winning medals, he also started the Michael Phelps Foundation in 2008, which grows swimming as a sport to promote health ever since he committed a $1 million bonus from Speedo.
Nancy Kerrigan
Nancy Kerrigan may be best remembered when rival Tonya Harding’s husband ordered a hit to cripple her, after which she came back to win a silver medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics. If she hadn’t been attacked, there’s a chance she could have won the gold. Later, she continued skating in several different ice shows. Besides skating, her mother is blind, so she started a foundation to support and raise awareness for the vision-impaired. Kerrigan has appeared in movies and TV, both in guest appearances and as a reporter or host for various programs.
Dominique Moceanu
Dominique Moceanu became the youngest to compete for a medal in the Olympics when she arrived in Atlanta shortly after her 14th birthday, winning gold in the all-around competition. Unfortunately, injuries forced her to retire only four years later. Moceanu wrote a book about how training so hard from such a young age affected her.
Matt Biondi
Matt Biondi was overshadowed in his generation by Mark Spitz, but only ever so slightly. Biondi has 11 Olympic medals and eight of those are gold, one less than Spitz. Although competitive swimming is what Biondi’s name will be most connected to, he also played water polo. He swam at the Olympic games from 1984 to 1992, yet he is another athlete who decided to stay in his craft. Coaching kids for the local swimming team keeps him connected, but Biondi’s main profession is a math teacher.
Dominique Dawes
Another one of the “Magnificent Seven,” Dominique Dawes was the one who took home the all-around medal, but that’s not her only distinction. In fact, she’s the first American gymnast to win medals in three consecutive Summer Olympics after she came out of retirement to compete in the 2000 Sydney Games. Before her, no one of African descent had won a gold medal at the Olympics for gymnastics. Dawes has only become more of a national asset since then, having been appointed as a sports advisor to the U.S. government.
Greg Louganis
Gregory Louganis was the first diver in history to receive a perfect score from Olympic judges for one of his dives, so it’s no surprise he has won four gold medals. The first two were in 1984 and the rest in 1988, as he swept the men’s events. An LGBT activist whose endorsements were initially dropped when he came out of the closet, in the midst of the AIDS epidemic, he’s since then found acceptance and become a mentor for the U.S. diving team.
Dorothy Hamill
Dorothy Hamill first started skating when she was eight, which isn’t the youngest the world has seen, but by the age of 12 she was beating other girls at competitions. In the 1976 Winter Olympics, she wowed the world with her routine and won a gold medal. Hamill has her very own skating move called the Hamill Camel, which is when the skater changes a camel spin to a sit spin. She remained one of the most popular athletes decades after her performance and made quite a lot of TV appearances over the years.