The opportunity to represent your country at the Olympic Games is something only a determined few get to do.
At present, athletes from around the world have been competing for medals at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Taking part in such an event allows athletes to create a legacy that inspires others.
And they still have plenty of time for additional achievements in retirement.
CNBC takes a look at what a handful of Winter Olympic medalists did once their sporting careers were over.
Britain’s Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill — known as “Torvill and Dean” — were figure skaters who started their two-decade career together as teenagers in 1975.
The duo’s signature dance came at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo in the former Yugoslavia, when they earned full marks from all nine judges and a gold medal for their “Bolero” routine. The pair competed in a number of Winter Olympics before retiring in 1998, and together collected some 16 gold medals.
Torvill and Dean have since been awarded with an Order of the British Empire (OBE) award for their outstanding contributions to skating and British sport. They have also starred and helped train participants on U.K. television show “Dancing on Ice,” which aired from 2006 to 2014. The show has since come back onto air, with the pair acting as judges in the 2018 series.
Luge competitor Armin Zoeggeler made his Winter Olympics debut at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway, where he won a bronze medal.
Known as Italy’s “Cannibal” on Ice, Zoeggeler topped the Luge World Cup rankings five times during the course of 1997 and 2006. At the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, he secured his sixth medal in six successive games at 40.
Since retiring, Zoeggeler has become a member of the Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI), where he has the opportunity to bring his “knowledge, experience and ideas” to budding athletes. He has also had a book published about his time on the ice.
Olympic champion Julia Mancuso, 33, ended her skiing career in January, choosing to retire after having battled with hip issues. During her 18-year career, Mancuso won four Olympic medals, seven World Cup wins and five World Championship podium finishes.
While her athletic career has drawn to a close, that doesn’t mean Mancuso will leave sport behind. She has dabbled also in philanthropy and modeling, and is an ambassador for High Fives Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises awareness on injury prevention in sports.
Less than a month after retiring, Mancuso followed in the footsteps of other retired skiers, including Bode Miller, by commentating at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, where she worked for NBC.
As the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian of all time, it’s safe to say that Apolo Anton Ohno has had a remarkable speed skating career. Competing in the 2002, 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, Ohno won eight medals, including two golds. He also won numerous prizes at many world short track speed skating championships.
Since retiring in 2013, Ohno has made a number of television appearances, after featuring on “Dancing with the Stars” during his sports career. He was a commentator at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Games.
The speed skater is the co-founder of Allysian Sciences, a “life-coaching company” that develops a line of premium supplements. Ohno has also co-founded HybridBlock, a developer of advanced blockchain solutions. The platform looks to educate people who want to leverage technologies coming out of the blockchain sphere.
Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through the year 2032.
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