Objectives: The focus of this paper is on a cross-national comparison of elite French and Swedish athletes in terms of a) pre-conditions for the athletic retirement, b) coping and related factors, c) perceived quality and long-term consequences of the transition. The study also examines an impact of retirement planning upon the transition process and outcomes. Method: The Retirement from Sports survey (Alfermann, Stambulova, & Zemaityte, 2004) translated into French/Swedish and adapted for studying athletes in corresponding countries was employed. The sample was composed of 157 former international level athletes from France (n= 69) and Sweden (n=88) comprising both males and females and representatives of different sports. The data were analysed with ANOVA and MANOVA. Results: One common and two nationally-specific patterns have been identified in the process of the transition to the post-career. The common pattern involved mainly athletic retirement pre-conditions (e.g., retirement planning), coping (e.g., action-oriented strategies) and related factors (e.g., financial support). Cross-cultural differences related mainly to reasons for termination, emotional reactions upon retirement, perceived difficulty in starting a new professional career, usage of emotion-focused/avoidance coping strategies, duration of the transition, current athletic identity and professional choice/career/life satisfaction nowadays. Retirement planning, regardless of the country, was associated with more favourable emotions and coping behaviours in the transition but was not associated with perceived quality and long-term consequences of the transition. Conclusion: The study showed that the transition out of elite sports is a dynamic, multidimensional, multilevel, and multifactor process in which nationality/culture plays an important role.