It is never too late to win – sporting activities and performances of ageing women

Abstract

Sport is an area in which masculinity, youth and their achievements are celebrated and rewarded. Thus, ageing women face a double barrier when they wish to participate and perform in an endeavour which is currently of major interest in the industrialized world. However, the understanding of women and ageing is undergoing change, because of changing gender arrangements, the spread of enhancement technologies and a new approach of older women to their lives. Furthermore, statistics and studies indicate that the participation of older women in competitive sports has become a socio-cultural phenomenon which raises the question of how older women experience and negotiate ageing as well as participation in performance sports. This article presents theoretical approaches to the intersecting concepts of gender and age in the context of physicality and sport, provides information about the growing participation of older women in sporting activities and competitions, and offers potential explanations for the increasing sports interest and performance orientation among older middle-class women in Western countries.