Troubling stereotypes: South African elite disability athletes and the paradox of (self-)representation.

Abstract

Despite the increasing prominence of competitive disability sport, the literature on the experiences of disabled athletes, particularly in low- and middle- income countries, is sparse. We aimed to describe the participation experiences of a group of athletes in competitive disability sport in South Africa, as well as exploring the ways they talk about issues of identity and self-representation in the context of elite disability sport. Data were collected via in-depth, semistructured interviews with a purposefully sampled group of 22 athletes competing at a national level. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants reported that disability sport is personally transformative and that sport allows them to experience their bodies as capable and to feel a sense of pride. Participant narratives reinforced supercrip discourses and both reproduced stereotypes and challenged them. Participants experienced pride and social inclusion by reproducing aspects of supercrip discourse. The findings imply that participating in competitive disability sport can reinforce stereotypes about disability by strengthening supercrip discourses while simultaneously providing a context for internal personal transformation and private political struggles.