The last issue of The Creative Athlete discussed switching sports. If you have reached this point, you have a number of options to consider. Switch to a different version of the same sport.
Many sports offer a variety of ways to compete.
Someone who has trained for one version of a sport can often take those skills and successfully apply them to another version. Cathy Turner quit speed skating in 1980 when she failed to make the Olympic team. In 1988 she returned, focusing on short track skating. Not only was this version of the sport less grueling for her than long track, but it became an Olympic sport in 1992, thus giving her another chance to make the team. Turner went on to win two medals, a silver and a gold, in Albertville in 1992, and also a gold and a bronze at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics.