Troubled Waters
Aarhus University
Commodifying Athletes' Bodies: A Three Millennium Journey View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tom Roberts
For three and a half millennia, the symmetry of athletes’ bodies has inspired cultural ideals and simultaneously spurred commercial exploitation. I will trace the progression of the athlete’s body from its cultural and commercial power in the ancient world to our modern concept of exploitation, now more frequently managed by the athletes themselves. Along the way, athletes’ bodies were either vilified (in the Middle Ages) or eroticized (in the early 20th century and beyond) almost always for the benefit of some cause other than the athletes’ pursuit of excellence in their sport. Accomplished athletes such as Annette Kellerman, Johnny Weissmuller and Katarina Witt — among many others — found lucrative post-sports careers in objectified erotic displays of their physical allure. Inevitably, dark-skinned athletes were largely excluded from this. Yet, through their own initiative and determination, athletes such as Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe and Paul Robeson translated their athletic prowess into powerful political and cultural presences in the world arena. Racial classification has become more subtle and athlete control more common, yet the commodification continues.
Mentally Healthy Elite Sports Environments: Balancing Risk and Reward
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Astrid Becker-Larsen
Elite sport is demanding. In order to be able to compete at the highest international level, athletes must push themselves physically and psychologically. Fluctuations in athletes’ mental health are to be expected, as athletes are faced with a complex set of sports internal and external challenges (e.g., high training loads, personal identity struggles, numerous transitional events, injury or de-selection from an Olympic/Paralympic cycle). In recent years a number of successful athletes have shifted the narrative about being an elite athlete, and have publicly shared their mental health issues (e.g., Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles and Michael Phelps). We have also been witnessed to sport organisations that publicly acknowledged their responsibility in allowing cultures to arise that have compromised athletes’ mental health (e.g., Danish swimming and British cycling). These examples bear witness to the fact that the uncompromising elite sport culture that emphasize winning “medals at all cost” involves a potential threat to the athletes’ mental health. The research area within mental health is still relatively young compared to other areas within the field of elite sport. Definitions and terms on mental health, selfcare, athlete welfare, well-being and thriving are turning up in the literature. The first part of my PhD study will uncover and clarify the understandings we already possess – trying to really understand how can talk about mental health in a result orientated context. In this study I share some of these immediate thoughts.
Can an Athlete's Voice Help Improve the Anti-doping System? View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Richard Vaughan
The sports sector has been under scrutiny for some time due to individual and systematic cheating to unfairly profit from doping (Dimeo, and Moller, 2018; Ordway, and Opie 2017; Wilson et al, 2016, Henning, and Dimeo, 2018; Gatterer et al, 2021). This research builds on and expands a range of work in the integrity sector using the athlete voice to gain theoretical understanding with two core goals. The first intends to examine ‘athletes' experiences in the anti-doping system, managed by World Anti-Doping Authority Program (WADA). The data from the athletes these insights is then analysed to form themes that can be used to better understand how we can improve all components of the anti-doping system. By doing this we aim to build on current areas of exploration in the anti-doping field. Work by Moller, and Christiansen (2022); and Shelley, Thrower, and Petroczi (2021) provide a plethora of areas that need to be better understood. The second goal is to us these insights to help SIA improve their policies, procedures, and resources from education through to the results management process. The research will use a qualitative athlete survey which will be disseminated by the National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO). Australian athletes and Sport Integrity Australia (SIA), the Australian NADO, will provide the source of the data, with athlete surveys in line with previous WADA surveys ad work by Donovan, Jalleh, and Gucciardi (2018).
