While some retired athletes haven’t stayed in shape after finishing their athletic careers, some have and still look hot AF.
All of the retired athletes featured in this article have managed to maintain their physiques as well as their looks after leaving their respective sports.
Now, without further adieu, let’s take a look down below and check out these 15 Retired Athletes Who Still Look Hot AF:
In terms of hot retired athletes, I couldn’t do an article about this subject without including the one and only David Beckham! The English Midfielder was one of the hottest soccer (known as ‘football’ everywhere else in the world but _) players in terms of both looks and skills in the world when he was an active player.
Despite hanging up his boots in 2013, Beckham remains one of the sport’s hottest players ever. Besides his talent and looks, Beckham’s relationship and eventual marriage to Spice Girl Victoria Beckham also contributed to him becoming one of the most recognizable people in the world. Given the Calvin Klein Underwear Ads he’s done, one cannot deny that David Beckham is one of the sexiest retired athletes ever!
The former German midfielder may have hung up his boots in 2012, but almost eight years later, the now 43-year-old Ballack still looks as charming and as handsome as he was during his playing days. If you never heard the name Michael Ballack before reading this article, look him up. In my book, he’s one of the hottest retired athletes in the entire world!
During his playing career, Ballack was one of the most versatile midfielders of his generation and achieved a lot of success during his time with Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea. During his career, he won the hearts of many fans (especially female soccer fans) with both his commanding presence on the pitch and his good looks. From 1999-2010, Ballack earned 98 caps and scored 42 goals with the German National Team. The latter statistic is the eighth-most of all time for Germany. He was also team captain from 2004-2010. Ballack has done various activities since his retirement, including stints as a studio analyst during Euro 2012, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and Euro 2016.
The Serbian Tennis Star retired in 2016 after no longer being able to perform at the level she wanted to. She retired with 15 Singles Titles, which included her only Singles Grand Slam: The 2008 French Open. During her career, Ivanovic was also one of the hottest female tennis players on the tour for her talents and looks, which earned her tons of sponsorship deals. Almost four years after leaving tennis, Ivanovic ranks highly amongst the most attractive, retired athletes across all sports.
Gronk revolutionized the tight end position and finished his nine-year NFL Career (all with The New England Patriots) as a 3-time Super Bowl Champion and a 5-time Pro Bowler.
When Gronk announced his retirement in March 2019, NFL fans, in addition to current/former NFL Players and Media Personalities, were stunned as he was only 29 years old at the time and many felt he still had a few more years left to compete. With his early retirement, Gronkowski became one of the most notable retired athletes across all sports to have left the game in their prime. It has been almost a year since Gronk has retired and many fans hope he will make a return to the NFL soon.
Besides David Beckham (See #1 Above), an article centering on hot retired athletes cannot be done without including former Russian Tennis Player Anna Kournikova! The Russian was a promising young talent, but serious back problems forced her to retire from the sport at the ripe old age of 21. Despite never winning a singles titles in her career, Kournikova’s highest ranking was No. 8 in 2000. She had an even more successful doubles career, winning two Grand Slam Women’s Doubles Titles with Martina Hingis at the 1999 and 2002 Australian Opens.
Despite her premature retirement, Kournikova still receives tons of media attention around the world to this very day for her drop-dead, gorgeous looks and her long term relationship with Singer Enrique Iglesias. The notoriously private couple has been together since 2001 and are parents to three children: twins Nicholas and Lucy (born on December 16th, 2017), and recently welcomed a second daughter on January 30th, 2020 (the newborn’s name has yet to be revealed).
Of all the retired athletes featured in this article, German Goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller (on the left) is perhaps the most underrated one. The German spent the majority of his career with Borussia Dortmund and is considered one of the club’s most legendary players. His 16 seasons with Dortmund included two Bundesliga Titles (2010-11 and 2011-2012), two DFB-Pokal Cup Titles (2011-12 and 2016-17), and a DFL-Supercup Title (2013). During the 2012-13 season, Borussia Dortmund were the runner-ups of the Champions League that season. Weidenfeller was also part of the Germany Squad that won the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
After hanging up his goalkeeper gloves in 2018, Weidenfeller is still involved with his former club as an international ambassador. Besides his new duties with Borussia Dortmund, he also works as a pundit and is featured whenever the Germany National Team plays matches. Given his media appearances (whether it be for Dortmund or as a German National Team Pundit), Weidenfeller still maintains his charming looks and physique that attracted many.
The 2-time NBA All-Star and 1-time NBA Champion (Lee won his only NBA Title with The Golden State Warriors in 2015), retired from basketball in 2017 after 12 years in the league. Although it has been a little over two years since he announced his retirement, Lee still looks Hot AF and makes up one half of the world’s most famous and hottest sporting couples with wife, Danish Tennis Caroline Wozniacki. Lee and Wozniacki have been an item since 2017 and recently got married in Bora Bora this past June. With Wozniacki’s surprising and early retirement after The 2020 Australian Open concluded (the same event that Wozniacki won her only Grand Slam title at the 2018 tournament), the couple will now have more time to spend with each other and start a family.
Of all the retired athletes who still look Hot AF to make this list, former midfielder Claudio Marchisio is the most recent one to have left their sport as he announced his retirement in October 2019.
Marchisio spent almost all of his entire career (including his academy and youth career) with Juventus. With Juventus, he won many honors and became one of the club’s most legendary players ever. The only two years he didn’t play for Juventus were during the 2007-2008 season. There, he spent a season-long loan with Empoli and the 2018-19 season, where he left Juventus to play his final season as a professional athlete for Zenit Saint Petersburg.
During his time with Juventus and the Italian National Team, Marchisio was one of the most (and perhaps the most) attractive player on both teams. Even though he only hung up his boots a few months ago, the Italian is already high in the ranks as one of the hottest retired athletes.
The third of five female retired athletes included in this article, Miesha Tate left a profound legacy in the world of professional fighting and many fans (including celebrities) were sad when she announced her retirement in 2016. Despite her retirement, Tate is still active in the sport as a pundit, meaning that people still see her on their social media feeds as well as on their TV Screens. With these media appearances, Tate has still kept her great physique.
In addition, Tate and her boyfriend, fellow Mixed Marshal Arts Fighter Johnny Nunez, recently announced on Christmas that they are expecting their second child together in June 2020. Based on her social media posts since announcing her second pregnancy, Tate still looks like one hot mama!
Across all sports, swimmers have some of the best-toned physiques and Michael Phelps, the greatest swimmer and most decorated Olympian of all time, looked like a Greek God with his body! There are tons of reports from media outlets regarding the details of his famous training regime and diet.
After Phelps hung up his goggles for the second (and final) time after The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio concluded, he still works out and does laps in the pool and hasn’t let himself go like some retired athletes did once their athletic careers were over.
Luke Walton spent the first nine seasons of his 11-year NBA Career with The Los Angeles Lakers and won 2 NBA Championships with the team in 2009 and 2010. He spent the last two years of his career with The Cleveland Cavaliers before retiring in 2013. Although he wasn’t one of the star players during his time with the Lakers, Walton was a fan favorite for his work ethic, funny personality and handsome looks.
After retiring, Walton has pursued a coaching career and won another NBA Championship as an assistant coach with The Golden State Warriors in 2015. He returned home to The Lakers after the 2015-2016 Season and was the team’s head coach for three seasons. He’s currently the head coach of The Sacramento Kings.
Although his playing days are over, Walton has still maintained his charming looks like the other retired athletes on this list have, as evident in this video that went viral of him playing beach volleyball in 2018. Walton has also maintained his hilarious and savage personality as an NBA Coach. One of these moments happened only a few weeks ago when he yelled at Dallas Mavericks Star Luka Doncic to “Do me a favor: Give [referee Ed Malloy] your autograph after the game! He’s a fan! He’s a fan of yours.” Walton’s outburst not only sent NBA Fans into hysterics on social media, but it also earned him a technical foul for calling the ref a Luka Doncic fan.
The British Track and Field Athlete, who won an Olympic Gold Medal in Heptathlon on home soil at The 2012 Summer Olympics in London and retired a few months after The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero, where she won a silver medal in the same event. Ennis-Hill also left the sport as a 3-time World Champion in the Women’s Heptathlon Event.
Like many retired athletes of other sports have done since leaving their sport, Ennis-Hill has worked as a broadcast analyst and pundit. She also remains associated with various companies and has posted photoshoots she has taken part in on her Instagram account. Diving further into her Instagram, it’s apparent that Ennis-Hill remains one of the top retired athletes who still look Hot AF as she’s managed to maintain her physique (and after giving birth to two children; she had her eldest while two years before the 2016 Olympics) after ending her sporting career.
The Argentine’s skills and beautiful looks made her one of tennis’s leading female players during the 1980s and 1990s. Sabatini retired in 1996 (at the age of 26), and some of her career highlights include a Grand Slam Singles title (the 1990 US Open), a Grand Slam Doubles title (with Steffi Graf at The 1988 Wimbledon), and an Olympic Silver Medal in Women’s Singles at The 1988 Summer Olympics. Despite turning 50 this coming May, Sabatini still maintains her physique and beauty from her playing days.
Like fellow NFL Player Rob Gronkowski (see #4 above), Calvin Johnson is one of the most notable retired athletes who left their careers in the middle of their prime. Although he retired at the age of 30 in March 2016 (after spending his entire 9-year NFL Career with The Detroit Lions), Johnson Jr. is still considered one of the league’s greatest wide receivers of all time.
Almost five years into retirement, Johnson Jr. remains in top-notch shape as if he were still an active NFL Player. Besides being recently named to the board of directors of the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association, Johnson Jr.’s post-NFL Career activities included a stint on Season 23 of Dancing With The Stars, where he placed third behind Olympic Gymnast Laurie Hernandez and Race Car Driver James Hinchcliffe, the eventual winner and runner-up respectively.
The American and 2003 US Open Champion left the sport in 2012 and has still maintained his good looks that had many female fans fawning over him. Not only is Roddick one of most attractive retired athletes across all sports, he’s also one half of the hottest celebrity couples as his wife is Model Brooklyn Decker. Roddick and Decker have been married since 2009 and have two children (a son and a daughter) together.
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