ICS Seminar Series

UPCOMING

Sport and its Sociocultural Environments: Conducting Qualitative Research with Olympic and Paralympic Athletes and Staff

Presenter: Helene Joncheray

Discussant: Michelle O’Shea

Chair: Emily Rytmeister

Date & Time: 18 June 2026 | 11:30am - 1:00pm

Room: EA.2.30 Parramatta South Campus

Abstract

Until the early 2000s, there was only limited research on the relationships between sociocultural environments and optimal athletic performance. However, as a body of research developed on this subject, it revealed that many factors beyond the strictly physical have varying degrees of impact on sporting performance. As international sporting competition has become more intense, many studies from around the world have demonstrated a strong connection between Olympic and Paralympic performance and the socio-cultural environments in which individuals, especially athletes and coaches, operate and evolve. This presentation outlines how I and my collaborators utilise qualitative tools and methods to conduct research with Olympic and Paralympic athletes and staff. The primary goal of these studies, which are used here as illustrative examples, is to delineate and analyse the sociocultural contexts in which Olympic and Paralympic athletes and staff operate as social beings in their daily lives.

Biography

Associate Professor Helene Joncheray is currently on secondment from Paris Cité University as a researcher in sociology at the Sport, Expertise, and Performance laboratory of the French Institute of Sport (INSEP). Her research focuses primarily on optimising the social environments in which athletes and staff evolve. Helene is VicePresident of International Relations for the International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA) and a member of the Editorial Board of the International Review for the Sociology of Sport (IRSS). She is visiting ICS for a year at the invitation of Emeritus Professor David Rowe.

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