RETIREMENT

Is there life after being sports idol?

06-03-2009 | AFP

Former top sporting figures hit the big and small screens in search of peace and contentment in retirement

Panama Star PARIS. Eric Cantona has led the way in solving the conundrum facing every top sporting figure - what to do with your life once retirement beckons?

The former Manchester United legend has made the jump from green pitch to silver screen as effortlessly as his leap over the crowd barrier for that infamous tete-a-tete with a Crystal Palace fan back in his glory days.

The charismatic Frenchman was in Cannes last month to promote his latest role as himself in Ken Loach's comedy 'Looking For Eric'.

Cantona is not the only footballer to hotfoot it to Hollywood for former Wales international and Wimbledon star Vinnie Jones has also found a new home in cinema.

The hardman, who once grabbed Paul Gascoigne's testicles, has capitalized on his tough intimidating persona, making his screen debut in Guy Richie's gangster movie, 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'.

Martina Navratilova cannot lay claim to the big screen success of Cantona and Jones but the nine-time Wimbledon winner has appeared as one of the contestants on the hit British reality television show 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here'.

"Of course I’m competitive, nobody goes on the court saying I want to lose," she said before heading off to the jungle.

Other tennis greats such as John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Boris Becker have also turned to the small screen as commentators, while Ivan Lendl spends most of his waking hours on the golf course either playing or caddying for his two golfing prodigy daughters.

"Golf was a great vehicle for me to get the competition out of myself. I love competing. I get nervous before I play. I get the same buzz as when I was playing tennis. I love it," he told The Sunday Times.

Not all sports luminaries have found peace and contentment in retirement.

Lester Piggott was probably the greatest flat jockey ever to sit in a saddle but the nine-time Epsom Derby legend was not quite as adept at filling in tax forms, a handicap that resulted in The Long Fellow feeling the long arm of the law and a three year prison spell in the 1990s.

And former England cricketer Chris Lewis is just days into a 13 year sentence for smuggling cocaine into Britain.

"Lewis, caught Customs, bowled Revenue, 13 (years)" was how the Times succinctly noted his downfall.

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