“Continue or quit?” Configurations of career resources and their association with career termination: a person-oriented study with Swiss elite athletes

Successful athletic careers require sustained dedication and the effective management of multiple career resources. While athletic identity, health, and social support are known to influence athletes’ career sustainability, their combined impact on career continuation or retirement remains unclear. This study applied a person-oriented approach to identify distinct configurations of career resources among Swiss elite athletes and to examine their linkage to career continuation or termination two years later. A total of 559 national team athletes (46.9% female, 53.1% male; Mage = 25.05 years, SD = 5.46) completed assessments of athletic identity, physical and psychological health, and social support in 2022. Career status (n = 96, 17.2%, retired; n = 463, 82.8%, continued) was reassessed in 2024. Cluster analyses identified five distinct clusters reflecting different configurations of resources. Two clusters differed in their odds of retirement within two years: athletes with above-average athletic identity had reduced odds (OR = 0.50), while those with below-average athletic identity had increased odds (OR = 2.71), compared with the remaining three clusters. These findings indicate that distinct configurations of career resources may contribute to retirement decisions among elite athletes. Practically, individualized career counseling and proactive support may enhance athletes’ ability to sustain healthy, successful, and satisfying careers or to make informed retirement decisions. Future research should examine dynamic resource interactions and the quality of transitions using multi-wave longitudinal designs.