The coping strategies used by elite Lebanese athletes in overcoming adversity and achieving excellence. | ||||
| Journal of Applied Sports Science | ||||
| Article 2, Volume 15, Issue 1, June 2025, Page 13-22 PDF (553.37 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jass.2025.344353.1120 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
Nathalie Jbeily   ; Denis Hauw
| ||||
| Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Lausanne University | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Elite Lebanese athletes experience transitions in their careers that may greatly influence their advancement. However, understanding has been lacking about the psychological processes at play when these athletes face obstacles on their path to excellence. Therefore, this research aimed to shed light on the adversities they face and the coping mechanisms that contribute to their achievements as they strive for sports excellence. This study included 21 elite athletes from Lebanon (aged 19 to 45; mean = 26, SD = 4.32) who participated in various sports. During interviews, a holistic approach based on life stories was used to elicit information about the challenges they face and the coping skills they develop, as well as how they employ these skills over the course of their sports development. Results showed that the participants used a variety of coping strategies to deal with the challenges and non-normative transitions they encountered along their path to success and excellence. Ten recurring themes were identified for the non-normative transitions and coping strategies, which were divided into functional or dysfunctional responses. Results showed that these Lebanese athletes face a lack of structural support and specific societal challenges, and they develop vigorous coping skills to reach excellence. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Non-normative transition; adaptability; narratives; adversity; sport excellence | ||||
|
Statistics Article View: 212 PDF Download: 124 |
||||
