Mojca Doupona Topic¹, Samo Rauter¹, Milan Zvan¹, Jay Coakley²

¹Univerzitet u Ljubljani, Fakultet za sport, Slovenia
²Univerzitet u Coloradu, Kolorado Springs

NATIONAL IDENTITY OF TOP – LEVEL ATHLETES

NACIONALNI IDENTITET VRHUNSKIH SPORTAŠA

Sport Mont 2012, X(34-35-36), 372-377

Abstract

Elite international sports are staged in connection with national symbols and involve competitions between athletes and teams representing nation-states. The victors regularly express their joy by displaying their national flag, and spectators use victories as occasions for reaffirming and articulating national pride. The aim of the study was to determine how national identity is formed in connection with sports, and the ways that national identity is integrated into the lives of athletes. The sample included top-level athletes. All participants were members of the Slovenian national team (handball, voleyball, track and field, swimming, cross country skiing, rowing). Social-demographic variables, value categories, motivation for competition, national pride, awareness to be Slovenianian-ness were analysed. Results shows that sporting achievements do have a strong correlation with the national identity.

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