Does Sport Need to Evolve? Physical Differences, Fair Opportunity, and a Roadmap for Change
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Sport provides a setting in which people test their physical capacities, effort, technical skills, and decision-making abilities under shared rules. However, being subject to the same rules does not necessarily give different bodies equivalent opportunities to demonstrate their abilities. The interaction between rules and characteristics such as height, body mass, reach, and body proportions influences which attributes translate into success. This article examines how that relationship can be assessed from the perspective of fairness and proposes a sport-specific research framework. Its central principle is that restrictions on physical differences should be justified in terms of safety, meaningful competition, and participation. The proposed roadmap includes assessing existing conditions, conducting comparative pilot studies, evaluating multiple outcomes, ensuring athletes’ ongoing involvement, and openly reporting findings. Youth and community sport are considered promising starting points for investigating alternative arrangements. Rather than reporting experimental findings, this article offers a conceptual and methodological contribution through proposals that can be empirically tested.
Author: Boko, Irfan
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225741267
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