How Olympic athletes transition post-Olympics

An x-ray image of an ankle replacement caught Finn Butcher's eye.

Butcher burst into the New Zealand consciousness with a surprise kayaking gold medal at the Paris Olympics. He carried the New Zealand flag at the closing ceremony with Dame Lisa Carrington.

We are walking around a career expo, pondering potential options for when he leaves life as a high-performance athlete. He is 29 years old, so that might not happen for another decade or so, but it will happen.

The X-ray image is part of a booth from Stryker, a company that develops medical innovations, from stretchers to jaw implants.

"It was fun to work in a dental lab and work with all the tech," Butcher explained of one of the part-time jobs he did so he could spend maximum time training.

And he did half of an industrial engineering degree so this could one day be a good fit.

"We recruit so many athletes because they understand the human body," said Stryker representative Tori Rowden, giving Butcher a flyer about the company.

"That was bloody interesting," he said as we walked to the next booth.

The career expo is part of the Crossroads Conference with High Performance Sport NZ, the government organisation tasked with developing our elite athletes. Crossroads happens every four years, a few months following an Olympic and Paralympic games.

The conference helps athletes process the experience they've just had and the post-olympic blues that can follow. It also prepares athletes to go into another Olympic or Paralympic cycle-if they want to-while also laying the groundwork for their eventual transition to life after sport.

Butcher came to Crossroads to connect with athletes who understand his Olympic experience, prepare for his next Olympic campaign and get some good old tax and financial planning know-how.

"All my money has gone straight into the sport, probably more than all my money," he said, of life similar to that of a student with a hodgepodge of income sources including his parents and living in a shared house with four other flatmates.

His gold medal win means greater access to grants and the interest of corporate sponsors. Now, he can save a little and plan for the future while training full-time.

Butcher's passage to household name is one of the many transitions Crossroads aims to address for New Zealand's star athletes.

"Transition wasn't something we talked about six or seven years ago," said Christine Arthur, a former Olympic hockey player and head of performance life coaching at HPSNZ.

"It was a dirty word because you might give the idea you wanted to leave."

The first Crossroads followed the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. The two day conference covers workplace readiness, wellness and personal development on and off the field, said Arthur.

"Transitions are happening all the time. The one constant is change is always happening."

One of the key speakers this year was Barbara Kendall, a windsurfer who competed in five Olympics and has a collection of gold, silver and bronze medals. She recalled feeling isolated and lonely with a shattered friendship network when she returned to New Zealand after years of competitive windsurfing.

"Even if you do win, you're on a high for a little while but then you're like, 'Oh shit, what do I do next?"

One of Kendall's core messages to the athletes is having a purpose and identity other than their sport.

"It is a duty of care. We know that if you develop the person, not just the athlete, they're going to be much better at being an athlete," said Kendall, adding that Crossroads was "envied by lots of countries."

In 2016 and at age 19, Eliza McCartney became the youngest pole vaulter to win an Olympic medal with a bronze in Rio. She reached the finals in Paris.

McCartney is now 27 with an environmental science degree. She came to the first Crossroads Conference following Rio at a different stage in her career.

"I wasn't in the mindset of thinking after sports. I was more at the crossroads of thinking about developing my career in sport, things like public speaking, mentorship, philanthropy"

"This time - even though I'm not retiring from sport and planning another Olympic cycle - I'm just a bit more of the mindset of how can I start evolving it a little bit more to a post-sports career."

It was a Crossroads session on entrepreneurship that got the mind of speed climber Julian David turning on combining his sport with a future business venture. He is 19 and placed eighth in Paris.

Speed climbing first became an Olympic Sport in Tokyo 2021, a sign of the sport's growing appeal. Climbers race side by side up a standardised wall. David can make it to the top in a little over five seconds.

"How to make it more accessible? How to bring it to school environments for example because... in all of New Zealand there is only one full 15 metre speed wall."

David also checked out the ANZ Banking and New Zealand Police booths at the career expo. Fire and Emergency New Zealand had a booth along with Deloitte, other financial services and a handful of universities.

"[Elite athletes are] a resource base we are keen to tap into," said senior police sergeant Nick Poore.

"The mindset, physical attributes, dedication - it's a no-brainer."

The Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation recently started a division to recruit and help athletes who want to complete an apprenticeship without missing training or competitions. Tom Walsh, who has two Olympic Bronze shot put medals and pulled out of competition in Paris due to injury, is a qualified builder.

Paralympian silver medalist Danielle Aitchison isn't into the career stuff at Crossroads - yet. Her mind is already in LA 2028 where she will go for more medals in her events: the T36 100m and 200m.

"As a solo athlete, I can feel like I am on my own, that I'm the only person that feels that way."

"[Crossroads] is a really good opportunity to connect and talk to other athletes."