The most famous sports stars have wealth, celebrity, and incredible lifestyles. However, in truth, it’s not always so easy being a professional athlete. First, they have to be consistent. It takes a lot of commitment to achieve success over the course of many seasons. So eventually there comes a point where athletes just want to step down from their respective sport. However, it’s not that easy to walk away from the sport that made you famous.
So today, we’re going to look at 30 sports stars who walked away but then chose to come out of retirement. They all had their reasons, and some were more successful than others. The longest retirement on this list was 10 years, while the shortest was a mere three days. Read on to find out these varying degrees of comeback success below.
30. Lance Armstrong
The infamous cyclist is one of the most notorious figures in all of sport. He was on top of the world until he wasn’t. Armstrong was the leader of cycling’s worst doping scandal. That put an irreparable stain on his name and reputation. But it wasn’t always like that. There was a time when Armstrong was a hero to millions around the world.
Armstong came back strong from cancer but retired in 2005. However, three years later he would climb back on his bike after feeling the sport call to him. But he would only last for another two years as a federal investigation had already begun. The rest, as they say, is history.