Mapping Un/Contested Knowledge of Sex/Gender in High Performance Sport: Applying Actor-Network Theory to Women’s Olympic Weightlifting
Date
Authors
Nelson, Monica
Thorpe, Holly
Wheaton, Belinda
Clarke, Gloria Hinemoa
Sims, Stacy
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Abstract
Beliefs about women athletes’ bodies, physical capacities, and the ‘best’ training methods to attain maximal performance are continually debated inside and outside of sport. But it is unclear how these many disparate, and at times conflicting, knowledges come together to shape women athletes’ health and performance. In this paper, we engage Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as a methodological framework for examining the variety of sex and gendered knowledges in sport. To illustrate the functionality of this approach to examine extensive, diverse systems of knowledge, we discuss our operationalisation of ANT as a methodology to examine the sex and gender-focused knowledge networks of Olympic Weightlifting. Drawing from a series of linked qualitative methods, we recount the multitude of contested knowledges about sex, gender, and strength that our mapping made visible, as well as the human and non-human entities that acted to facilitate or hinder their travel throughout the sporting network. Combining actor-network maps with creative non-fiction vignettes, we demonstrate the complex interactions of knowledge that circulated between areas of the network (Olympic Weightlifting gyms, Instagram, academia and the International Weightlifting Federation). We conclude by providing concrete methodological recommendations for future researchers that endeavour to use ANT to study systems of knowledge.Description
Keywords
Actor Network Theory, methodology, knowledge, Olympic Weightlifting, gender
Source
Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 18(2), 210–227.
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© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License, which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.