Is it all about medals? Meaning and purpose in elite sport through the eyes of Olympic athletes
Recently, (Olympic) athletes’ mental health and well-being have become the hot topic in sport psychology. Empirical evidence on athletes’ poor mental health and reduced well-being in the context of the Olympic Games (Küttel & Larsen, 2020; Reardon et al., 2019) is complemented by anecdotal acco...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Bern Open Publishing
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Current Issues in Sport Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ciss-journal.org/article/view/9363 |
| _version_ | 1828014624681754624 |
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| author | Violetta Oblinger-Peters Kristoffer Henriksen Noora Johanna Ronkainen |
| author_facet | Violetta Oblinger-Peters Kristoffer Henriksen Noora Johanna Ronkainen |
| author_sort | Violetta Oblinger-Peters |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Recently, (Olympic) athletes’ mental health and well-being have become the hot topic in sport psychology. Empirical evidence on athletes’ poor mental health and reduced well-being in the context of the Olympic Games (Küttel & Larsen, 2020; Reardon et al., 2019) is complemented by anecdotal accounts of famous competitors (e.g., multiple Olympic medalist Simone Biles at the Tokyo 2022 Olympic Games). While the recognition that these topics need to be addressed is shared within the wider sport psychology community, the growing body of research has led to the adoption of diverse theoretical perspectives on mental health and well-being in elite sport (Lundqvist & Andersson, 2021).
Surprisingly, a “flagship indicator of well-being” (Steger et al., 2013), namely meaning in life, has thus far escaped scholarly attention in the context of elite sport to a large extent (Luzzeri & Chow, 2020). This gap in knowledge is unfortunate, since athletes seem to become attuned to fundamental questions such as meaning and purpose in sport and life more broadly at critical moments in their career (Ronkainen & Nesti, 2019). One potentially critical moment when athletes talk about feeling lost and void and lacking a sense of direction is encountered upon the return from the Olympic Games, during the post-Olympic phase. Even though existential themes of meaning and purpose have been discussed by scholars and addressed by practitioners within the area of sport psychology (Nesti, 2004; Porter et al., 2021), a more nuanced understanding of how Olympic athletes define meaning and purpose in their sport and life more broadly is missing to date. The study therefore seeks to examine empirically how Olympic athletes experience meaning and purpose by addressing these themes during the post-Olympic phase. To this end, semi-structured interviews with 13 international Olympic athletes were conducted online after their participation at the Beijing Winter Games 2022. Interviews lasted 55 minutes on average and were thematically analysed. The presentation will offer preliminary results of the analysis and elucidate, for example, on how the Olympians perceive goals as subordinate to their personal meaning and purpose in sport. Athletes in the study varied in the degree to which they engaged in various and diverse sources of meaning. This enabled some to realise multiple identities (Thoits, 2003) and to story themselves multidimensionally, while others drew exclusively on achievement-oriented types of meaning and performance-based narratives (Douglas & Carless, 2015). Critical moments in participants’ careers (e.g., injury, the pandemic, previous post-Olympic phases, and medaling at the Olympic Games) led to an existential crisis in some cases, resulting in deeper reflections on the relationship they hold with their sport. By providing insights into the lived experience of meaning and purpose in (Olympic) athletes’ lives, the study seeks to contribute fruitful ideas on how to promote athletes’ well-being and mental health in high performance contexts. Ultimately, a more layered understanding of the concept of (existential) meaning and purpose can serve to inform the applied practice in sport psychology.
References
Douglas, K., & Carless, D. (2015). Life story research in sport: Understanding the experiences of elite and professional athletes through narrative. Routledge.
Kuettel, A., & Larsen, C. H. (2020). Risk and protective factors for mental health in elite athletes: A scoping review. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 13(1), 231–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2019.1689574
Lundqvist, C., & Andersson, G. (2021). Let’s talk about mental health and mental disorders in elite sports: A narrative review of theoretical perspectives. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 700829. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.700829
Luzzeri, M., & Chow, G. M. (2020). Presence and search for meaning in sport: Initial construct validation. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 51, Article 101783. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101783
Nesti, M. (2004). Existential psychology and sport: Theory and application. Routledge.
Porter, S., Ronkainen, N. J., Sille, R., & Eubank, M. (2021). An existential counseling case study: Navigating several critical moments with a professional football player. Case Studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology, 5(1), 106–113. https://doi.org/10.1123/cssep.2021-0013
Reardon, C. L., Hainline, B., Miller Aron, C., Baron, D., Baum, A. L., Bindra, A., Budgett, R., Campriani, N., Castaldelli-Maia, J. M., Currie, A., Derevensky, J. L., Glick, I. D., Gorczynski, P., Gouttebarge, V., Grandner, M. A., Han, D. H., McDuff, D., Mountjoy, M., Polat, A., Purcell, R. . . . Engebretsen, L. (2019). Mental health in elite athletes: International Olympic Committee consensus statement. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53(11), 667–699. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2019-100715
Ronkainen, N. J., & Nesti, M. S. (2019). Meaning and spirituality in sport and exercise: Psychological perspectives. Routledge.
Steger, M. F., Shin, J. Y., Shim, Y., & Fitch-Martin, A. (2013). Is meaning in life a flagship indicator of well-being? In A. Waterman (Ed.), The best within us: Positive psychology perspectives on eudaimonia (pp. 159–182). APA Press.
Thoits, P. A. (2003). Personal agency in the accumulation of multiple role-identities. In P. J. Burke, T. J. Owens, R. Serpe & P. A. Thoits (Eds.), Advances in identity theory and research (pp. 179–194). Kluwer Academic, Plenum.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T10:05:13Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2414-6641 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T10:05:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Bern Open Publishing |
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| series | Current Issues in Sport Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-fe25dc6425794a37b842219697a18a642023-02-16T03:15:17ZengBern Open PublishingCurrent Issues in Sport Science2414-66412023-02-018210.36950/2023.2ciss076Is it all about medals? Meaning and purpose in elite sport through the eyes of Olympic athletesVioletta Oblinger-Peters0Kristoffer Henriksen1Noora Johanna Ronkainen2Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, SwitzerlandUniversity of Southern Denmark, DenmarkInstitute of Sport Science, University of Bern, Switzerland Recently, (Olympic) athletes’ mental health and well-being have become the hot topic in sport psychology. Empirical evidence on athletes’ poor mental health and reduced well-being in the context of the Olympic Games (Küttel & Larsen, 2020; Reardon et al., 2019) is complemented by anecdotal accounts of famous competitors (e.g., multiple Olympic medalist Simone Biles at the Tokyo 2022 Olympic Games). While the recognition that these topics need to be addressed is shared within the wider sport psychology community, the growing body of research has led to the adoption of diverse theoretical perspectives on mental health and well-being in elite sport (Lundqvist & Andersson, 2021). Surprisingly, a “flagship indicator of well-being” (Steger et al., 2013), namely meaning in life, has thus far escaped scholarly attention in the context of elite sport to a large extent (Luzzeri & Chow, 2020). This gap in knowledge is unfortunate, since athletes seem to become attuned to fundamental questions such as meaning and purpose in sport and life more broadly at critical moments in their career (Ronkainen & Nesti, 2019). One potentially critical moment when athletes talk about feeling lost and void and lacking a sense of direction is encountered upon the return from the Olympic Games, during the post-Olympic phase. Even though existential themes of meaning and purpose have been discussed by scholars and addressed by practitioners within the area of sport psychology (Nesti, 2004; Porter et al., 2021), a more nuanced understanding of how Olympic athletes define meaning and purpose in their sport and life more broadly is missing to date. The study therefore seeks to examine empirically how Olympic athletes experience meaning and purpose by addressing these themes during the post-Olympic phase. To this end, semi-structured interviews with 13 international Olympic athletes were conducted online after their participation at the Beijing Winter Games 2022. Interviews lasted 55 minutes on average and were thematically analysed. The presentation will offer preliminary results of the analysis and elucidate, for example, on how the Olympians perceive goals as subordinate to their personal meaning and purpose in sport. Athletes in the study varied in the degree to which they engaged in various and diverse sources of meaning. This enabled some to realise multiple identities (Thoits, 2003) and to story themselves multidimensionally, while others drew exclusively on achievement-oriented types of meaning and performance-based narratives (Douglas & Carless, 2015). Critical moments in participants’ careers (e.g., injury, the pandemic, previous post-Olympic phases, and medaling at the Olympic Games) led to an existential crisis in some cases, resulting in deeper reflections on the relationship they hold with their sport. By providing insights into the lived experience of meaning and purpose in (Olympic) athletes’ lives, the study seeks to contribute fruitful ideas on how to promote athletes’ well-being and mental health in high performance contexts. Ultimately, a more layered understanding of the concept of (existential) meaning and purpose can serve to inform the applied practice in sport psychology. References Douglas, K., & Carless, D. (2015). Life story research in sport: Understanding the experiences of elite and professional athletes through narrative. Routledge. Kuettel, A., & Larsen, C. H. (2020). Risk and protective factors for mental health in elite athletes: A scoping review. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 13(1), 231–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2019.1689574 Lundqvist, C., & Andersson, G. (2021). Let’s talk about mental health and mental disorders in elite sports: A narrative review of theoretical perspectives. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 700829. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.700829 Luzzeri, M., & Chow, G. M. (2020). Presence and search for meaning in sport: Initial construct validation. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 51, Article 101783. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101783 Nesti, M. (2004). Existential psychology and sport: Theory and application. Routledge. Porter, S., Ronkainen, N. J., Sille, R., & Eubank, M. (2021). An existential counseling case study: Navigating several critical moments with a professional football player. Case Studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology, 5(1), 106–113. https://doi.org/10.1123/cssep.2021-0013 Reardon, C. L., Hainline, B., Miller Aron, C., Baron, D., Baum, A. L., Bindra, A., Budgett, R., Campriani, N., Castaldelli-Maia, J. M., Currie, A., Derevensky, J. L., Glick, I. D., Gorczynski, P., Gouttebarge, V., Grandner, M. A., Han, D. H., McDuff, D., Mountjoy, M., Polat, A., Purcell, R. . . . Engebretsen, L. (2019). Mental health in elite athletes: International Olympic Committee consensus statement. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53(11), 667–699. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2019-100715 Ronkainen, N. J., & Nesti, M. S. (2019). Meaning and spirituality in sport and exercise: Psychological perspectives. Routledge. Steger, M. F., Shin, J. Y., Shim, Y., & Fitch-Martin, A. (2013). Is meaning in life a flagship indicator of well-being? In A. Waterman (Ed.), The best within us: Positive psychology perspectives on eudaimonia (pp. 159–182). APA Press. Thoits, P. A. (2003). Personal agency in the accumulation of multiple role-identities. In P. J. Burke, T. J. Owens, R. Serpe & P. A. Thoits (Eds.), Advances in identity theory and research (pp. 179–194). Kluwer Academic, Plenum. https://ciss-journal.org/article/view/9363meaningpurposepost-Olympicsexistential psychologyathlete well-being |
| spellingShingle | Violetta Oblinger-Peters Kristoffer Henriksen Noora Johanna Ronkainen Is it all about medals? Meaning and purpose in elite sport through the eyes of Olympic athletes Current Issues in Sport Science meaning purpose post-Olympics existential psychology athlete well-being |
| title | Is it all about medals? Meaning and purpose in elite sport through the eyes of Olympic athletes |
| title_full | Is it all about medals? Meaning and purpose in elite sport through the eyes of Olympic athletes |
| title_fullStr | Is it all about medals? Meaning and purpose in elite sport through the eyes of Olympic athletes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is it all about medals? Meaning and purpose in elite sport through the eyes of Olympic athletes |
| title_short | Is it all about medals? Meaning and purpose in elite sport through the eyes of Olympic athletes |
| title_sort | is it all about medals meaning and purpose in elite sport through the eyes of olympic athletes |
| topic | meaning purpose post-Olympics existential psychology athlete well-being |
| url | https://ciss-journal.org/article/view/9363 |
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