ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the darker side of sport will be explored. First, the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of dominant ideologies and practices prevalent in elite sporting contexts will be explored. Then, a number of studies will be drawn upon to highlight how ideologies and practices have come to affect athletes both in the short term and also long term. While a large section of this chapter is focused on the sport of swimming and specifically the elite context, literature and practices occurring in other sporting contexts will also be drawn upon to highlight how sport more broadly can have negative consequences for athletes or sporting participants at all levels. This latter point is significant, particularly as it was revealed in the research of McMahon et al., (2012) that dominant ideologies and practices occurring in elite swimming were indeed permeating the amateur and community sport contexts with both short term and long term detrimental effects.