Hu Tiao, Mendoza Mathew, Cabador Joy Viray, Cottingham Michael
Department of Health and Human Performance, Lab of Adaptive Athletics at University of Houston, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States.
Front Sports Act Living. 2021 Jul 20;3:689555. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2021.689555. eCollection 2021.
The purpose of this study was to explore the status of Paralympic hopefuls' athletic identity and how this identity was impacted by the training and competition cessation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews that explored the experiences of 29 Paralympic hopefuls who compete in thirteen different Paralympic sports. A thematic analysis yielded two superordinate themes: a) Prominent athletic identity, multiplicity over exclusivity; b) Various Impact on AI: Mental adaptation helps overcome the lack of sport participation. Participants in this study possessed prominent strong athletic identities from the benefits of sport participation. Their prioritized athletic role still remains despite setbacks due to the pandemic. However, athletes identified with multiple roles rather than an exclusive athletic identity during COVID-19. As for the impacts on identity, the severity of challenges are determined by the mindset of the athletes. All of the athletes experienced a decreased amount of time and physical participation in their sport. Paralympians whose sole focus was on the loss of physical participation were impacted the most. Athletes who felt unchallenged did so because of their mental adaptation. Through a positive outlook and mentality, athletes were able to effectively cope and not dwell on the negative aspects brought on by the pandemic. In conclusion, having a strong AI did not necessarily coincide with a negative impact on identity from COVID-19, and those who do not possess a strong AI felt their AI was unchallenged by the pandemic. More importantly, Paralympians' mindset of how they view and interpret their AI is crucial to how the individual's AI is affected by the sport disruption of COVID-19.
本研究的目的是探讨有望参加残奥会的运动员的运动身份状况，以及这种身份如何受到因新冠疫情导致的训练和比赛中断的影响。研究人员进行了深入的半结构化访谈，探讨了29名有望参加残奥会的运动员的经历，他们参加13种不同的残奥会项目。主题分析得出两个上位主题：a）突出的运动身份，多元性而非排他性；b）对运动身份的各种影响：心理适应有助于克服缺乏运动参与的问题。本研究的参与者因运动参与的益处而拥有突出且强烈的运动身份。尽管因疫情遭受挫折，他们优先考虑的运动角色仍然存在。然而，在新冠疫情期间，运动员认同多种角色而非单一的运动身份。至于对身份的影响，挑战的严重程度取决于运动员的心态。所有运动员参与运动的时间和身体活动量都有所减少。那些只专注于失去身体运动参与的残奥会运动员受到的影响最大。感觉没有受到挑战的运动员是因为他们的心理适应。通过积极的展望和心态，运动员能够有效应对，而不会纠结于疫情带来的负面影响。总之，拥有强烈的运动身份并不一定与新冠疫情对身份的负面影响同时出现，而那些没有强烈运动身份的人则觉得他们的运动身份没有受到疫情的挑战。更重要的是，残奥会运动员看待和诠释自己运动身份的心态对于个人的运动身份如何受到新冠疫情导致的运动中断的影响至关重要。
