Athletes Who Retired In 2022: Tennis,NFL, MLB To F1 List Of All Players

In 2022, some of the finest athletes of the twenty-first century announced their retirement. These GOATS are Retired! The year was chock-full of heartfelt farewells, swansongs, and even a few un-retirements. In their final moments of play, a few players triumphed, while others politely waved goodbye in defeat.

Let’s honour the legendary athletes who will retire in 2022 before a new crop of stars picks up the baton.

Athletes Who Retired In 2022: Tennis, NFL, MLB To F1 List Of All Players

Serena Williams and Roger Federer

Farewell trips were enjoyed by two tennis players in 2022.

Serena Williams revealed in August that she will be “developing away” from tennis in an editorial for Vogue. Thousands of devoted fans cheered for the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York, as she received a formal send-off. Her 2022 U.S. Open run came to an end in the third round against Ajla Tomljanovi after two impressive victories.

A legend on the men’s side announced his retirement less than two weeks after Williams left the Arthur Ashe Stadium court. Tennis has treated me more generously than I ever could have imagined, and now I must know when it is time to finish my professional career, Roger Federer wrote in a moving farewell message on Sept. 15. In his final match of a tennis career that started in 1998, 20-time Grand Slam singles winner Federer participated in the Laver Cup.

One of the tennis greats hasn’t ruled out a comeback, just like Brady. Williams declared “I am not retired” in October and referred to her chances at a comeback as slim despite welcoming Federer to the “retirement club” after his announcement.

Albert Pujols

In 2022, Pujols, 42, essentially turned back time by throwing one of the best farewell games in modern MLB history.

Aaron Judge was trying to break the single-season home run record while Albert Pujols was climbing the all-time list.

After hitting just 23 home runs in 2020 and 2021, the St. Louis Cardinals first baseman’s season-high total of 679 home runs seemed a little out of reach.

He hit seven home runs through the month of July but picked up the pace after the new year. He passed Alex Rodriguez for fourth place all-time in big league history on September 11 with hit No. 697.

Pujols hit two home runs in the Sept. 23 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and hit three more in the Cardinals’ last 10 games to reach 703.

White Shaun
In Beijing, The Flying Tomato’s career came to an end.

At the Winter Olympics in 2022, Shaun White took one farewell snowboarding run in the halfpipe. The 35-year-old finished fourth in 2022 after three previous Olympic gold medals in the same competition.

White has spent the last two decades as the most well-known dual-board athlete in America. Although he won five medals at the X Games for skateboarding, snowboarding was where he really excelled. White won his first halfpipe Olympic gold medal at the age of 19 in Torino, then successfully defended it four years later in Vancouver. In 2018, he topped the medal stand once again with a gold-winning effort in PyeongChang after finishing fourth in the competition in 2014.

He left little doubt about his retirement status following his final 2022 halfpipe run – “Yeah, I’m retired, that’s the last of it” – but he is eager to keep snowboarding at his own leisure.

 

Gerard Pique

Gerard Pique was supposed to play his last game this season against Osasuna, but received a red card at halftime before even stepping on the pitch.

Pique, 35, announced his retirement shortly after reportedly getting caught cheating on Shakira.

His retirement was undoubtedly painful for Catalan fans, but he also fought tears during his farewell speech.

Pique scored 58 goals in 667 games for FC Barcelona, Manchester United and Real Zaragoza.

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel won four consecutive Formula 1 world titles with Red Bull between 2010 and 2013.

Vettel, 35, announced that he would retire from the track at the end of the 2022 season with Aston Martin.

 

Zdeno Chara
Zdeno Chara made the decision to retire from the NHL after 24 seasons with the team he helped win the Stanley Cup.

On September 20, Big Z signed a one-day contract with the Boston Bruins to end his hockey career. After being selected by the New York Islanders in the 1996 NHL Draft, the 45-year-old played for four different teams, although his best years in the NHL were spent with Boston.

In addition to winning the Hardest Shot award five times in the All-Star Game SuperSkills Competition, Chara won the Norris Trophy in 2009 and the Stanley Cup in 2011. He is the tallest player in NHL history at 6-foot-9.

Rob Gronkowski

As the first modern tight end, Rob Gronkowski is largely credited as being the driving force behind the New England Patriots’ two-decade reign of supremacy.

Before announcing his retirement, Gronkowski, 33, had an injury-plagued season that culminated in a playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

One year earlier, he assisted Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in winning Super Bowl LV.

The current crop of NFL tight ends, including Mark Andrews, George Kittle, and Travis Kelce, are all trying to imitate Gronk’s past performance.

 

 

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