Sports career termination implies a transition during which ex‐elite athletes face social, professional, and bodily changes and adjustments. This study evaluated the repercussions of the bodily transition and adjustment process on physical self and global self‐esteem. Athletes (n =16) in transition following the Sydney Olympic Games were compared with active elite athletes (n =16) four times during the first post‐career termination year using the Physical Self Inventory (Ninot, Delignieres, & Fortes, 2000). The results revealed that perceived physical condition, physical self‐worth, and global self‐esteem decreased during the first six months of transition out of elite sport. This stage of crisis was followed by a period of increase in these dimensions, as well as in perceived sports competence and physical strength, illustrating an adjustment to new bodily references. Transitional athletes presented lower global self‐esteem, physical self‐worth, perceived physical condition, sports competence, and physical attractiveness than active elite athletes, because of decreased training and social recognition of the “performing body.”