“You can't tee them up for retirement because we have to go out and win gold medals…”: a Foucauldian exploration of Olympic coaching logic and athletic retirement
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Introduction: Despite decades of research into the phenomena of athletic retirement, many modern athletes continue to report difficulties in adjusting to life beyond sport. As a result, the issue of athletic retirement has become a significant concern for those working within high-performance settings. However, there remains a distinct lack of critical attention regarding how key actors within athletes' lives (e.g., coaches) shape and impact upon their capacities to adjust to post-sport life. Methods: In this paper, we address this gap in research by presenting qualitative data from interviews with eight coaches working in the context of Olympic sport in the United Kingdom to examine their perspectives regarding the athlete retirement process. Results and Discussion: Drawing upon Foucault's conceptualization of disciplinary power-knowledge, our analysis illustrates how Olympic coaches' perspectives and experiences of athletic retirement can be linked to the modernist logic and normalizing pressures that characterize Olympic level coaching environments.
Authors: Neil Boardman, Luke Jones, John Toner, Zoë Avner
Institutions: University of Hull, University of Bath, Deakin University
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,353
OpenAlex ID: W4416387247