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Communities’ responses to sport inclusion in the Olympic Games

The inclusion of sports like skateboarding, BMX freestyle, and sport climbing in the Olympics has sparked mixed reactions within their communities. This study explores how these athletes and enthusiasts feel about joining the Olympic fold. It reveals concerns about losing their sports’ unique identities and traditions, especially as the emphasis shifts towards competition.

Supporting athletes’ mental health through tailored interventions

High performance athletes confront a myriad of mental health challenges throughout their career. According to a multi-societal consensus statement, these challenges vary across distinct phases of the Olympic/Paralympics journey, encompassing the pre-, during-, and post-Games. This underscores the need for heightened mental health awareness as well as tailored support within each phase of the quadrennium…

Sport and belonging Special Olympics

To better understand belonging through sport in individuals with intellectual disabilities, the Sport and Belonging team interviewed twenty Special Olympics athletes and identified three themes that the athletes spoke to: (1) support from allies, (2) being part of the team, and (3) opportunities to discover and develop interests.

The growth of sporting mega events

The Summer and Winter Olympics and the World Cup are 3 of the world’s largest tourist events. These events have grown 60-fold over the last 50 years, which is a growth rate 50 times faster that the world’s GDP. What does this mean for the future of these events? Have we reached peak mega event?…

Challenges and opportunities of dual sport participation

Not many athletes can claim both summer and winter Paralympian status. Liam Hickey is one of those rare athletes. He represented Canada at the 2016 Paralympics in wheelchair basketball and the 2018 and 2022 Paralympics in Para ice hockey. Ultimately, financial pressure and time constraints compelled him to focus solely on Para ice hockey. The…

Push and pull: Paralympian Brianna Hennessy is stronger for her multi-sport participation

Paralympian Brianna Hennessy sees her combination of sports (wheelchair rugby and Para canoe and kayak) as inherently compatible. One sport relies on pushing, the other on pulling, making her an all-round better athlete. Experiences like Hennessy’s are part of the reason that the Canadian Paralympic Committee and Own the Podium are collaborating to develop an…

“Athlete transfer” opens opportunities for development in Para sport

A Para athlete who chooses to pursue a new sport or get involved in a second sport, or whose circumstances force them to leave their sport, is engaging in a process called “athlete transfer.” The Paralympic Athlete Transfer Task Force has undertaken research to understand athlete transfer experience and inform future policies and pathways.

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