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For most of the people
in the world, retirement comes when old age or even
death itself is on the horizon. Retirement then seems
natural. At that point, the body and the mind are in
relative harmony, both worn down from a lifetime of use.
But athletes retiring at the age of thirty (or even at
thirty-seven, as I was) are taking part in an unnatural
rite. We may be tired of our individual sport or even
injured, but our bodies are often, on the whole, still
fundamentally fresh and vigorous. In no sense are we
old. And with the amazing strides in scientific health
care today, when men can look forward to living into
their eighties, and women even longer, the retirement of
a professional athlete is truly an anomaly as
retirements go.
Days
of Grace by
Arthur
Ashe
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