<p>Encouraging athletes to engage in entrepreneurship after retirement has become an important strategy for addressing the employment difficulties faced by many retired athletes. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) analytical framework, this study aims to investigate the effects of multiple factors, including athletes’ subjective norms, entrepreneurial attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and entrepreneurial external environment, on athletes’ entrepreneurial intentions, as well as the mediating role of entrepreneurial cognition. The subjective norms scale, entrepreneurial attitudes scale, perceived behavioral control scale, entrepreneurial external environment scale, entrepreneurial cognition scale, and entrepreneurial intentions scale were used to survey 1617 athletes, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that the mean value of athletes’ entrepreneurial intentions was 3.48, indicating a medium-high level. Significant positive relationships were found between subjective norms, entrepreneurial attitudes, perceived behavioral control, entrepreneurial external environment, and athletes’ entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, entrepreneurial cognition played a mediating role in these relationships. The study reaffirms the applicability of the theory of planned behavior in explaining entrepreneurial intentions and, importantly, reveals the mediating role of entrepreneurial cognition in facilitating entrepreneurial intentions among athletes. These findings provide valuable insights for developing targeted interventions to enhance athletes’ entrepreneurial intentions.</p>