Dear all,
We managed to present you with five new publications again during the week that was, four book reviews and one peer review article. Plus, a highly readable blog post. All of this is recommended reading. It won’t happen this week, regrettably, since there are a few back office chores that need to be dealt with, and a viva voce Ph.D. thesis examination taking place at our department here at Malmö University on Friday. We’ll get as much stuff published as we can manage. Keep an eye on our social media so as not to miss anything.
We managed to present you with five new publications again during the week that was, four book reviews and one peer review article. Plus, a highly readable blog post. All of this is recommended reading. It won’t happen this week, regrettably, since there are a few back office chores that need to be dealt with, and a viva voce Ph.D. thesis examination taking place at our department here at Malmö University on Friday. We’ll get as much stuff published as we can manage. Keep an eye on our social media so as not to miss anything.Last week the following items were published on idrottsforum.org (see below; language and publication dates, YYMMDD, in brackets). Click on the red headings to go to content. Utilize the Google Translate service to turn Scandinavian language pages into (some sort of) English.
And remember, if you’re not already hooked up to one of the social media outlets that we utilize, for now they are Facebook, Bluesky, LinkedIn and X, you’re missing quite a lot of information from idrottsforum.org that never appears on the website. So, if that is the case, check out, by clicking on the names, our Facebook, Bluesky, LinkedIn and X accounts.
Have a great week,
Kjell Eriksson
Editor
Research Article
Open water swimmer Sally Bauer – a star but not a heroine
In this peer-review article for Scandinavian Sport Studies Forum, Claes Annerstedt and Marie Annerstedt examines the accomplishments of Swedish long-distance swimmer Sally Bauer. Within the male-dominated realm of long-distance swimming during the 1930s and 1940s, Sally Bauer’s achievements disrupted entrenched stereotypes of women as fragile and passive. She broke barriers and redefined societal perceptions of female athletes and their capabilities. However, despite her extraordinary achievements, Bauer was never fully acknowledged as a national icon or Swedish heroine. Societal biases of the time overshadowed her groundbreaking contributions, denying her the recognition she rightly deserved. (Published in English 250908.
Book Reviews
A solid contribution to the study of women’s football from a grassroots perspective
In her new book Women’s Football, Culture, and Identity>, Kate Themen examines the experiences of amateur players in women’s football, challenging conventional discourses that centre male, masculine, and heterosexual identities and offering a new narrative that re-positions women’s voices. Payam Ansari is our reviewer, and his crisp analytical approach to the book brings out its fundamental qualities; for anyone interested in where women’s football might, and urgently should, go next, this book is both cautionary and inspiring. (Review in English, published 250909.)
A discourse analysis of the trans athlete issue that doesn’t go deep enough
Travis R. Bell & Anne C. Osborne’s Gender Defenders of the Sport Binary: Mediating Discourses of Difference against Intersex and Transgender Female Athletes (Peter Lang Publishing) considers how medical, policy, and media discourses shape understanding of nonbinary athletes, and more broadly cultural understandings of gender as chosen and sex as biologically measurable. Miroslav Imbrišević finds much to oppose against in the authors’ socially constructed concepts, arguing for accepting the existence of “facts of the matter”. (Review in English, published 250910.)
An in-depth review of decision-making by sports officials that goes beyond traditional and reductionist perspectives
Decision Making for Sports Officials: Training and Assessment Perspectives by Ian Cunningham and colleagues (Routledge) provides a comprehensive, holistic, and evidence-based account for improving the decision making of sports officials across different sports and levels. Our reviewer is Stuart Carrington, himself a notable contributor to the literature in the field, and his review is both knowledgeable and enthusiastic; “Anyone interested in the development of this profession should purchase this volume to obtain a better understanding of the challenges faced by officials“. (Review in English, published 250911.)
Talent in Swedish and German Elite Youth Football: An Account of Why Talent Resists Definition Using Discourse Theory
In her dissertation, Leah Monsees critically examines the contemporary constructions of talent in sports. Based on qualitative research of talent representations in German and Swedish contexts, Monsees explores talent understandings from a variety of angles. Henrik Fürst has also studied the concept and contexts of talent, and in his review he relates Monsees’ research to his own. While finding room for further methodological and theoretical development of ideas in the dissertation, our reviewer nonetheless considers its contribution to the field considerable. (Review in English, published 250912.)
New Blog Post
Retired and Rebranded: The Commodification of Post-Athletic Femininity, by Leah Monsees
This blog post explores how retired female athletes, such as Serena Williams and CrossFit figures like Jessica Cahoy, are reshaping their public narratives and bodies in ways that increasingly align with dominant beauty ideals. While these women have every right to evolve, their narrative shifts raise critical questions about agency, cultural pressure and commercialization. Drawing on theorists like Foucault, Bourdieu and Butler, the piece argues that these transformations are not purely personal but shaped by systems of biopower, market logic and gender norms as the post-athletic body, once a symbol of strength and resistance, is now being commodified. (Published in English 250909.)
New Issues of Scholarly Journals
(We’re currently reviewing this service, since it’s a rather time-consuming undertaking. In the meanwhile we’re presenting some of the journals in line with the Forum’s core mission.)
Journal of Olympic Studies, Volume 6, 2025, Number 2 (250910)- Journal of Sport & Social Issues, Vol. 49, 2025, No. 5 (250910)
- International Journal of Sport Communication, Volume 18, 2025, No. 2 (250911)
- Sociology of Sport Journal, Volume 42, 2025, Issue 3 | Open access issue: Sports and the Limits of the Binary: Trans and Nonbinary Athletes and Equity in Sport (250911)
- International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 60, 2025, No. 5 (250914)
Journal of Olympic Studies, Volume 6, 2025, Number 2 (250910)News items (calls for papers, vacancies, etc.)
- Public defense of doctoral thesis | Investigating the effects of endurance exercise on protein metabolism, with a specific focus on urinary nitrogen excretion by Matthieu Clauss, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, September 16, 2025 (250908)
- Offentligt försvar av en doktorsavhandling | Fysisk aktivitet på recept i en svensk skolkontext – medikalisering eller dörröppnare för rörelse, av Emelie Wiklund | Malmö universitet, den 19 september 2025 (250909)
- Call for Papers | “Athlos, Athlon, Athlētēs” – Competition and Excellence in Greco-Roman Culture | Exedra Mediterranean Center, Syracuse, Sicily, November 24–27, 2025. Call ends October 1, 2025 (250910)
- Public defence of doctoral thesis | Biomechanics of lower limb loading during high force and sports related movements by Jonas Enqvist, Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences | September 19, 2025 (250912)
