Identity in elite level disability sport: a systematic review and meta-study of qualitative research

ABSTRACT

This meta-study evaluated qualitative identity literature within elite disabled sport. Following a systematic search of EBSCO SPORTDiscus, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science, nine articles met the inclusion criteria. The meta-study examined how identity was framed from participant or author perspectives, employing narrative analysis to understand the participant stories and broader storylines crafted by authors. Two distinct narratives were co-constructed; Re-birth: characterising athlete identity experiences and how overcoming career challenges developed traits necessary for elite athlete status, and Tragedy: how authors’ interpretations indicated that although athletes achieved personal sporting success, the ‘bigger battle’ of how disability was presented within society remained. The Re-birth and Tragedy narratives update the prospective gap between how elite disability athletes story their experiences and their framing within society.

KEYWORDS:

• Athlete
• narrative analysis
• storytelling
• society
• disability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Availability of data: Data openly available in a public repository that issues datasets with DOIs.

Notes

1 This paper follows the UK Social Model of disability (Oliver, 2004) using identity-first language (‘disabled people’ and ‘disabled athletes’). We acknowledge ‘disabled people’ globally refer to themselves in various ways, such as ‘persons with disabilities’ as used in the UN Convention of Rights for Persons with Disabilities or ‘athletes with disabilities’ as language recommended by the International Paralympic Committee.