Understanding safe sport as a public health practice: a strong structuration theory analysis of Swedish elite athletics sport personnel

Background

Exposure to harmful environments and practices is reported across a wide range of sports, including athletics, with negative implications for participants' health and welfare across age groups, genders, and competitive levels. Sport environments are shaped by powerful cultural norms and organisational practices, which influence how sport personnel responsible for shaping elite athletes' sporting environments understand, prioritise and enact safety in practice. This study explores how sport personnel in Swedish elite athletics interpret and enact safe sport, and how these enactments are shaped, enabled, and constrained by structural conditions.