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September 2019 Editorial: The Challenges of an Elite Career in Individual Sports

Sep 3, 2019 | Editorials

September 1, 2019

The life of an elite athlete in individual sports can be a very lonely one; long practice hours, extensive travelling around the globe, not much time to spend with family or cultivate friendships, and the list goes on.  An elite sports career takes a lot of hard work; a strict training schedule, strenuous and consistent practice and foremost, personal sacrifices.

The challenges faced by elite athletes in individual sports are many; financial difficulties; parental and social pressure; combining sport with school when young and at the beginning of their career; constantly adapting to new environments; coping with the demands of being the best in their sport and winning at all costs.

This month, we deal with the hurdles faced by individual sport elite athletes in their pursuit of perfection, their willingness to risk everything to be the best, and their transition from elite sports to a more conventional career during their life after sport.  The end of an elite sports career entails significant change in many areas of an athlete’s life and the athlete needs to be ready to cope with such changes.  Elite athletes acquire a number of valuable skills during their sporting years which, if applied properly, can help them to build an equally successful life after the end of their elite sport career.

Athena P. Constantinou

E-mail: [email protected]

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