Olympian Hazel Clark is “struggling” to decide her next move after departing the Bermuda Tourism Authority last December.

As the keynote speaker at the Athene Life Career Expo, Ms Clark said she was still deciding whether to take on employment again or to go her own way.

“I sit on several boards, and I am vice-president of the Noah Lyles Sports Foundation,” she said. “I have quite a few consulting opportunities that I am working on in New Jersey. I have had a few job offers that look very appealing from really cool global sports organisations.”

Her husband, Shane McIlwain, has suggested she start her own foundation, a possibility she is also considering.

“My husband said before you jump into something, just take some time to think about what you want to do,” she said. “I said, but the job market is crazy, and I just got a great offer. He said don’t panic, and believe in yourself. It will come together.”

Ms Clark has previously refused to comment on her leaving, but at the conference she said the role at the BTA was an opportunity that she valued.

“It was a blessing,” she said. “I never took for granted my role there.”

When she first joined the BTA, it felt as though she had found her dream job.

“What I love is connecting with people,” she said.

She understood that she needed to serve the community and do the best she could for her organisation.

“I took that really to heart,” she said. “When you get an opportunity, you have a responsibility to do your best and to kind of pay it back to those that gave you the opportunity and saw something in you.”

Ms Clark was grateful she was hired with no tourism experience.

“Every day I just wanted to show that it was a great choice to bring Hazel Clark to Bermuda for this role,” she said.

She was working for Coca-Cola’s global sports marketing team when she first came to Bermuda to speak at International Race Weekend several years ago. While here, she noticed an attractive man in the audience, Shane McIlwain, a Bermudian.

They were married in 2014.

Speaking to a crowd largely comprised of high school and college students, Ms Clark talked about the influence of her father, Joe Clark, the New Jersey high school principal who inspired the 1989 film Lean on Me.

Her older brother, JJ Clark, sister Joetta Clark-Diggs and sister-in-law Jearl Miles-Clark were all runners who went on to win gold at the Olympics. However, growing up, Ms Clark was determined to do something other than track and field.

After several disastrous tries at other sports, her father insisted she start track and field, whether she wanted to do it or not.

As a middle-distance runner, she went on to represent the US in the 800 metres in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics. She also won seven national titles, among other accolades.

During the expo, she revealed that one of her biggest regrets was that she never enjoyed her time in running.

“I regret I had all that opportunity to be happy and travel the world and enjoy it, and yet all I felt was pressure,” she said. “That is sad when you think about it. It was kind of a waste.”

She urged the crowd to find their passion and purpose.

“Doing that will take you farther than you can imagine,” she said. “My father was a schoolteacher who carried around a baseball bat, and he had a movie made about him.”

The third annual Athene Life Career Expo took place at Pier Six on Front Street in Hamilton.