Meet the retired Olympic champions starting second careers at Goldman Sachs with zero financial expertise and no office experience

As the final weekend of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games comes to a close, many athletes are returning to their 9-to-5 jobs, with some even retiring from their sport for good. But hanging up their skis doesn’t mean they have to leave their competitive past behind. Olympic champions are getting a second start at the $280 billion bank Goldman Sachs—and no financial expertise is required.

“I didn’t necessarily have the financial background history that other candidates would have, so [Goldman Sachs’] patience with me was incredible,” Ryan Held, a two-time gold medal Olympic swimmer who started as a risk analyst one year ago, tells Fortune. “They just wanted to see me succeed.”

Held is in good company at Goldman Sachs, where former pros are muscling their distinct skill sets to succeed in new careers. Most Olympians and athletic champions retire from their sport by their mid-30s, searching for passion in a different line of work.

Fortunately for elite athletes on the job hunt, the famously selective bank is looking to tap into the same talent that rowing stars, competitive swimmers, and Super Bowl champions bring to the table. 

And apparently, there’s much more in common between athletics and banking than what meets the eye. Jacqueline Arthur, head of human capital management at Goldman Sachs, tells Fortune that competing in some of the biggest sporting events can lay the groundwork to succeed at the U.S. bank. 

“Olympians and competitive athletes generally are a really interesting talent pool for us, given these incredibly valuable attributes like resilience, leadership, ability to manage time, and performing at the highest level under pressure,” Arthur says. “These things are valuable in any career, but especially here.”

Now, a litany of sports stars are trading the Olympic arena for the office floors of the Wall Street titan. 

The Olympic medalists who started their second careers at........

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