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This study reviews UK news media discourses surrounding New Zealand’s weightlifter Laurel Hubbard’s participation in the 2020 Olympics as the first ever publicly open transgender woman to compete at the Olympic Games. Discourse Analysis of 94 news and opinion articles published in the UK press before and after the Olympics, reveals contradictory portrayals of Hubbard as both having an unfair biological advantage and playing by the rules. While these discursive constructions appear contradictory on the surface, both draw on wider cisgenderist discourses to produce and police normative understandings of gender. We argue that sports media is a heightened site for the production of gendered bodies (in sport and in general), contributing to the production of ignorance around trans people, and influencing policy debates around the topic of trans inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on transgender experiences in martial arts. Interviews with three Finnish and two British transgender martial artists were thematically analyzed, and findings were interpreted through the lens of queer theory. Two themes were identified related to the ways that transgender martial artists experience their sporting contexts, namely martial arts as an empowering and inclusive context and the challenges related to being transgender in martial arts. Two themes were also identified when it comes to participants' strategies for coping with cis-/heteronormativity in martial arts. Whenever possible, participants employed social change strategies, whereas other times, they drew on self-care strategies. Following this, we suggest a need for context-specific, protective policies; nonbinary means of organizing sport; and gender diversity education for instructors to better cater for the specific needs of transgender people in sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarship on gender and sexual diversity in sport has advanced during the last decade and it is nowadays recognised that we need a better understanding of how to facilitate inclusive sport cultures that allow all people to participate as themselves. The purpose of this scoping review was to map research activity on the sporting experiences of gender and sexual minority (GSM) athletes and coaches, identify gaps in the literature and provide suggestions for future research, policy and practice. Our literature search in four different databases yielded 58 relevant studies. Based on their focal areas, five dominant interconnected themes were identified: (1) identity, (2) discrimination, (3) coming out, (4) the body and (5) strategies for social change. More research is needed on bisexual, transgender and intersex athletes, on GSM coaches and junior athletes, as well as on the intersection of gender and sexuality with other identities and social categories of difference. Combining anti-discrimination policy implementation with gender and sexual diversity education for all those involved in sport could lead to positive changes in some of the issues that GSM athletes and coaches face in sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, few studies have explored how changes in the practices, policies, and politics of sport and education may be implicated in how young athletes think about and plan for the future. Drawing on cultural praxis and feminist poststructuralist frameworks, this paper explores whether and how dual career (DC) policies and practices in Finland guide female judo athletes' imaginings about their future. Discourse analysis was used to analyse interviews with three adolescent (aged 16) and three young adult (aged 20, 23, and 27) elite female judo athletes. Differences were found in the ways the athletes in the different age groups constructed their future athletic, civic and gendered selves. We argue that some female judo athletes may experience identity tensions and lower their athletic aspirations in seeking to meet the new societal expectations embedded in the DC discourse. We conclude with recommendations for future policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this meta-study is to provide a critical synthesis of qualitative research on athletic identity in sport psychology. A total of 108 empirical studies were identified, including 63 quantitative studies, 40 qualitative studies, and five mixed methods studies. Qualitative and mixed methods studies were reviewed with the meta-study method, which involves a meta-analysis in terms of theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and findings. In our discussion we focus on evaluating and critiquing the current status of qualitative research on athletic identity and outlining recommendations for improving methodological rigor. It is concluded that both quantitative and qualitative studies need to be more explicit about their philosophical underpinnings and better grounded in psychological identity theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]