In pursuit of an identity: A qualitative exploration of retirement from women's artistic gymnastics

Abstract

This study examined among a sample of elite athletes the contention that the pursuit of performance excellence can hinder the formation of self-identity and that this, in turn, can lead to adaptation difficulties when an individual retires from sport. As these problems are known to be pronounced in women's artistic gymnastics due to the young ages at which participants begin and end their competitive careers, the experiences of five former female gymnasts were studied. Respondents participated in retrospective, semi-structured interviews yielding transcripts that were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results revealed that participants had been encouraged to dedicate their lives to gymnastics and were, as a result, left feeling lost and helpless when they retired. After prematurely adopting an identity based solely on their role as a gymnast, many of the participants knew little about who they were and what they wanted to do with their lives, and were consequently forced to distance themselves from their past in order to establish a new identity apart from gymnastics. For those who felt worthless at the time of their retirement as a result of their maladaptive perfectionism and lack of power within the coach-gymnast relationship, this process was particularly challenging and has lasted, in some cases, for the duration of their retirement. The participants' accounts did, however, suggest that distress could be avoided by engaging in pre-retirement planning from a very young age and subsequently maintaining control of the transition out of gymnastics by reducing participation gradually and finding a meaningful replacement.

The Retirement Experiences of Elite Female Gymnasts: Self Identity and the Physical Self

“…This built rapport, allowing participants to discuss a topic that was assumed to be relatively straightforward. Congruent with previous qualitative studies of retirement (Lavallee & Robinson, 2007), the schedule traced participants' experiences of retirement from a temporal perspective, gathering information on their life as an elite gymnast …”

“…This is particularly pertinent in sports such as women's gymnastics, because the nature of elite gymnastics compels the athletes to "maximize their career into the years before puberty" (Kerr & Dacyshyn, 2000, p.127), the very years assigned to exploration and identity development. Accordingly, identity conflict has been strongly associated with retirement from elite gymnastics (Kerr & Dacyshyn, 2000;Lavallee & Robinson, 2007).…”

“…Research with retired elite gymnasts also suggests that this cohort is particularly sensitive to physical changes and weight gain in retirement (Kerr & Dacyshyn, 2000;Lavallee & Robinson, 2007). Thus, the combined effect of disengagement from sport and the onset of puberty may place retired gymnasts at particular risk of physical adjustment difficulties.…”

Sporting embodiment: sports studies and the (continuing) promise of phenomenology

“…Some IPA researchers even indicate prior to interview the precise areas participants will be 'required' to expand upon (e.g. Lavallee and Robinson, 2007). In a literature review of IPA-based research in health psychology, Brocki and Wearden (2006: 91) found that IPA interviews were often designed on the basis of extant research findings, theory or models, even including positivistic and quantitative work (e.g.…”

L'après-carrière des footballeurs professionnels en Afrique du Sud

“…De nombreux auteurs se revendiquant du courant de la psychosociologie ont défini une série d'éléments qui permettent d'envisager cette après-carrière de manière harmonieuse : une fin de carrière volontaire (Cecic Erpic, Wylleman & Zupanovic, 2004 ;Young, Pearce, Kane & Pain, 2006), une reconversion planifiée (Stambulova, Stephan & Jäphag, 2007), une identité socialement diversifiée et non pas uniquement centrée sur le rôle de l'athlète (Lavallee & Robinson, 2007), ainsi qu'un fort soutien social (Sinclair & Orlick, 1993). Cette recherche souhaite identifier, en amont, les processus susceptibles de mettre en péril la réalisation des éléments qui viennent d'être cités, en particulier la préparation de l'après-carrière des joueurs.…”