A triple Olympic gold medallist and multiple World Champion has described the mental toll of retiring from elite sport.
Ed Clancy OBE was part of Great Britain’s all-conquering Cycling Team, scooping top honours in Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016. He also won a clutch of World Championship golds and other medals and is considered the best Team Pursuit cyclist in history.
But after almost 20 years competing at the highest level he decided to call it a day in August 2021.
Yorkshireman Ed spoke to Daily Focus as he prepares to deliver a talk for a Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce Business Leaders event later this month – and reflected on that fateful decision.
He said: “Ultimately ‘old age’, injury and other factors forced my hand and I decided to retire.
“I’d always wanted to be a cyclist and had had a great run with successive golds in three Olympics. But it is one of those enjoyable jobs that must come to an end.
“After Tokyo 2020, where it was an unsuccessful bid for a fourth gold, I realised I needed to stand aside and make way for fresh blood.
“How has it affected me? Physically, I’m still work for British Cycling testing bikes and still ride a bike for leisure, so stay somewhat fit. You don’t just fall off the edge of the cliff even though I’m not the man I was 10 years ago!
“But mentally that’s the big one – there has been a lot said about Olympians in particular. You go from knowing nothing else through your childhood and you have this dream, and if you lucky make the Olympics and pick up a medal or two.
“But then it’s like ‘thanks for coming’ and off you go.
“Very quickly your bike’s got a new rider on it and your sponsorship stops as well as other streams of income. All that stops overnight.
“I sat back in the latter years of my career and watched what could happen both in terms of the potential opportunities but also, without naming names, the carnage that can happen too.”
He added: “But I was able to sit down with people like Chris Hoy who has gone from strength to strength and plays the ex-cyclist role really well and Chris Boardman, who reinvented himself as something new in the world of politics and active travel.
“But there are many more examples of people who struggle on for years and decades and lose everything that they worked hard for.
“In my head I decided I wanted to go one way rather than the other, but definitely didn’t have a defined idea of what that was. Truth be told, you have to work it out – but it is hard.
“It’s difficult because you can lose friends, the phone goes quiet and you have to almost start from scratch. It’s been a journey but I’m glad to say I’m kind of getting there – it just takes time.”
Ed’s now following new pursuits in a number of ambassadorial roles – including the position of Active Travel Commissioner for South Yorkshire and working with the British Cycling’s Research and Innovation Team.
He has also forged a role as a corporate speaker, reflecting on how the lessons he learned in elite sport can equally apply to running a successful business.
He said: “Rather than just talking about inspiration and motivation I try to bring something about real-life learning to the talk.
“I look at my four Olympic cycles and try to pull out relevant topics – so for 2008 it was building strategy around marginal gains; for London 2012 it was about working under pressure.
“Around Rio 2016, it was about overcoming adversity and a lengthy back injury; then for Tokyo, where we weren’t successful, it’s about accepting the lows and dealing with them.
“It’s impossible to run a business for years and not get knock backs.
“Similarly marginal gains, resilience to bounce back and performing under pressure are all themes business people can relate to. So I aim to make what I talk about applicable to real world stuff.”
The Business Leaders event which will also feature special guest speaker Martin Meir of Kamm Projects and REAP Bikes will take place on 27 June at The Quarter at Pot Bank, Spode in Stoke. For details click here.
