Att ta avsked från idrottskarriären : en existenssociologisk studie om manliga elitidrottares omställning till livet efter karriären

Sammanfattning: Today's professionalisation in sport has given many sports-loving athletes the opportunity to develop a career through sport. However, it is an industry that in most cases is not examined often about how elite athletes experience their lives, especially what happens when their elite career comes to an end. In this study however, the interest lies in exploring male elite athletes' experience in their transition from elite career to their life after the career. The study will be gathered with a framework consisting of the existential sociology perspective to explore how former male elite athletes create meaning in their lives after their elite career. Part of the existential sociology perspective is also to understand how this transition can be understood as an existential imperative. The empirical study has been collated with a qualitative study that involved semi-structured interviews based on a phenomenological approach, with six former elite athletes who were active at the highest level in their respective sports. The results of the study have shown that their transition from an elite career to a post-career life has had a major impact on the elite athletes' experience of meaningfulness. Something that can be interpreted through the concepts of self-control, identity and employability. It is evident that the sport associations play a significant role in how the transition is experienced, whether it’s in a positive or negative sense. But also the importance of their own responsibility for their transition and what aspects the elite athletes themselves may influence play a significant part for a better end to their elite career.