The Perfect Retirement

Planning the perfect retirement is hard. Just ask Andy Murray.

A fine balance exists between trying to exit the sport you love on a high, without tarnishing your legacy by overstaying your welcome.

The sports industry is littered with examples of those who got that balance wrong, those who allowed the scales to tilt away from success and high performance into dreaded territory – the ‘game has left them behind’ zone.

This summer, as far as retirement talk is concerned, has been a confronting one.

As the football world applauds the youthful brilliance of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, it should spare a moment for the players they have wrestled the mantle off. The tears we saw from Ronaldo at Euro 2024 were of a player desperate to still prove himself, but yet so painfully conscious of the time he has now surely run out of. Tony Kroos’ final pass, an uncharacteristically poor free-kick as his Germany team were eliminated from the same tournament was an irony not even his glorious career could insulate him from. Even as Messi’s Argentina triumphed in the Copa America, earning him a record-breaking 45th title, his injury only

compounded the unshakable feeling of something coming to an end.

The Olympics provided no respite for those with a disposition for nostalgia. Andy Murray and Dan Evans thrilled in the early rounds but were brutally disposed of in the quarterfinals. Nadal’s enduring love affair with Roland Garros is surely finally over - Novak Djokovic sent him packing from the singles event with ruthless efficiency before his mouth-watering partnership with Carlos Alcaraz was neutralized days later.

Watching these legends fade away with defeat, with the effects of time and wear so evident on their play and bodies isn’t always a comfortable watch.

We are so used to only celebrating the people and teams that lift the trophy that we lose sight of what else matters. Being able to still play at the highest level, to represent the country of your birth, to be celebrated by fans as the legend you have become – isn’t that a good enough final act?

Seeing Murray’s goodbye in Paris made one thing clear. It’s not, at least when it comes to the final embers of one’s career, really about winning. Yes, they all want to win. But just being out there, soaking up the crowd’s energy, their reaction after each fist pump, feeling each release of tension after an important point, goal, shot or tackle – that’s why they stick around for so long.

Of course, the competitor within them is desperate to win.

But the love from the crowd, the thrill of the battle, the passion for the game. That’s what matters.

Bowing out with that triad present in such abundance – that sounds pretty perfect to me.