Representations about Health, Sport and Disability in the Biographical Path of Paralympic Sportswomen

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In general, studies on disabilities do not focus on successful people. This work helps bridge the gap by studying Argentine women with motor disabilities who won more than 80 paralympic medals. OBJECTIVES: To explore the biographical path of Argentine paralympic women medallists to address their representations about health, sport and disability. METHODS: A non-standard (qualitative) study with flexible, multivocal and retrospective design was conducted. There were in-depth interviews to 13 paralympic athletes, selected using an intentional and theoretical sampling, with a thematic guide and analysis through the Grounded Theory (Atlas.ti software). RESULTS: The key actors of this study regarded themselves as “unique” during their childhood. Unlike their parents, these women had finished school between clinical interventions and rehabilitation. Although they lacked a sport background, they accepted the “invitation” to participate in sports (18 years old) out of curiosity. After meeting people passionate about sport, which had families, studied and worked, they integrated themselves into the group of disabled active people. CONCLUSIONS: The encounter with sport and people related to it produced an unexpected turn of events. Health, whose function was the intervention, turned into control and prevention. A horizon of possibilities was opened, and targets in sport were transferred in new paths.