Gravelle François, Stratas Aida, Karlis George
School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Front Sports Act Living. 2025 Jun 16;7:1483898. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1483898. eCollection 2025.
This study explores the lifelong involvement of older adults in Olympic weightlifting (OW) with the aim of understanding the factors that motivate them to initiate and sustain participation across their lifespan, as well as the challenges they face and the benefits they experience.
Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 22 participants (18 males, 4 females), aged 50-89, who had over 30 years of training experience in OW. The interviews lasted 40-58 min and were conducted face-to-face or via video call. The data was framed through Stebbins 'serious leisure perspective with an inductive thematic analysis to identify themes.
Five themes and four subthemes were identified that shape participants' enduring involvement in OW: lifelong passion and commitment to OW (subthemes: perseverance and serious leisure career development), rigorous training regimens, injury experiences and recovery, self-improvement and personal growth, and social and community building (subthemes: community and camaraderie, coaching and mentorship for athlete development and legacy). These themes reveal the deep dedication, resilience, and strong sense of community that mark participants' enduring involvement in this sport. The results suggest that OW can be utilized as a valuable sport for healthy aging, personal growth, and building supportive networks, which can inform approaches in health promotion, fitness programming, and sport development across different age groups.
本研究探讨了老年人终身参与奥林匹克举重运动的情况，旨在了解促使他们在一生中开始并持续参与这项运动的因素，以及他们所面临的挑战和所获得的益处。
对22名年龄在50至89岁之间、有超过30年奥林匹克举重训练经验的参与者（18名男性，4名女性）进行了半结构化深度访谈。访谈持续40 - 58分钟，通过面对面或视频通话进行。数据以斯泰宾斯的“严肃休闲视角”为框架，并采用归纳主题分析法来确定主题。
确定了五个主题和四个子主题，这些主题塑造了参与者对奥林匹克举重运动的持久参与：对奥林匹克举重运动的终身热情和投入（子主题：毅力和严肃休闲职业发展）、严格的训练计划、受伤经历与恢复、自我提升和个人成长，以及社交和社区建设（子主题：社区与友情、运动员发展和传承的教练指导）。这些主题揭示了参与者对这项运动持久参与所具有的深厚奉献精神、适应能力和强烈的社区意识。结果表明，奥林匹克举重运动可作为促进健康老龄化、个人成长和建立支持网络的一项有价值的运动，这可为不同年龄组的健康促进、健身规划和体育发展方法提供参考。
