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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the determinants of success of elite athletes by applying the concept of career success to a sporting context. The concept of career success includes extrinsic (i.e. tangible) career accomplishments like medals as well as intrinsic factors referring to subjective judgements about career attainments. Thereby, a holistic perspective is taken which has not been studied extensively before. Design/methodology/approach Based on previous literature, a theoretical model was derived outlining how human capital, motivation, organisational characteristics and socio-demographics affect both intrinsic and extrinsic career success. To measure the impact of these factors, primary (n=1,249) and secondary data of elite athletes were collected. Regression analyses indicated that all factors included in the theoretical model were associated with extrinsic and intrinsic success. Findings Institutional support was an important driver for intrinsic career success while financial support affected extrinsic career success. There was no significant influence of extrinsic career success on intrinsic career success. Practical implications These findings imply that policy makers should offer enhanced dual career options, such as mentoring programmes, aspects like sport-psychological support and nutrition counselling, and long-term, stable financial support for athletes to maximise career success. Originality/value This paper applies the construct of career success to sports. A focus on the athletes’ intrinsic career success is placed as this area has been neglected in past research.