After swapping four years of slog and strain for either unadulterated joy or bitter disappointment, the biggest question for competitors must be: “What next?”
Jessica Ennis has described the collective feeling in the Athletes Village as being “like the world’s going to end”. After swapping four years of slog and strain for either unadulterated joy or bitter disappointment, the biggest question for competitors must be: “What next?”
For many — such as Ennis’s mini-me Katarina Johnson-Thompson — the answer may seem simple: Rio 2016. But for others, like Victoria Pendleton, the end of the Games marks their retirement.
The woman whose bottom has sold a thousand bikes should not be short of promotional opportunities: she has already made ads for Pantene and Hovis and has a bike range at Halfords. But Pendleton has an interest in fashion and Sir Paul Smith, himself a former racing cyclist, has offered her work experience. And then there’s the small matter of organising her wedding — something that is in the diary for both Ennis and swimmer Keri-Anne Payne too.
Pendleton, along with Rebecca Adlington and gymnast Beth Tweddle, is also said to be on BBC producers’ fantasy competitor list for the next series of Strictly Come Dancing. Though Tweddle clearly suits sequins, she may say it’s not enough of an adrenaline rush. On her post-Olympic to-do list are wing-walking, bungee-jumping and skydiving — everything she’s not been allowed to do for fear of breaking a bone.
One Spanish hockey player dreams of a more demanding vocation than either extreme sports or TV fame, though. Litus Ballbe, who went on a pilgrimage in 2005 after he bartered with God to win a match, is training for the priesthood. So it seems some athletes find a calling even higher than Olympic glory.
