A Colombian weightlifter retired by winning gold and leaving his shoes on the floor
Photo by Pool/Getty Images
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
There are a great many ways an athlete can retire, but perhaps the best and most enduring is the image of a competitor removing their shoes and leaving them where they finished their career. The latest athlete to do this is Oscar Figueroa of Colombia, who won the gold medal in men’s 62 kilogram weightlifting and then immediately retired.
Removing your shoes is a powerful metaphor. It’s a symbol that a part of you will always remain with the sport, a way to be remembered when you’re gone. This isn’t the first time it happened either.
Perhaps the most famous example of this retirement was wrestler Rulon Gardner at the 2004 Athens Olympics where he won bronze. The US Olympian couldn’t hold back his tears after walking away from the sport he loved and competed in for 11 years.
It was one of the lasting images of the Athens games, and naturally it would be replicated. Gardner’s dramatic retirement made such an impact that the TV show Friday Night Lights adopted it in 2008 when Tim Riggins left Dillon.
This has been a year of retirements for sporting legends. Kobe Bryant had a full season retirement tour, Tim Duncan issued a single statement and Alex Rodriguez gave a tearful farewell press conference. Leaving a game is a personal experience, and there’s no right or wrong way — but leaving your shoes is the underused star of any retirement.
