The 2020 Summer Olympicsand the Paralympic Games were scheduledto take placein Tokyo. This sporting mega-event has affected change in the public and social spheres of the host country, Japan, but with regard to athletes’ gender and sexual orientation Japan’s mainstream media seem still considerably biased. Little has been reported on openly LGBTpro athletes from Japan and their involvement in advocating the Olympic values:diversity, inclusiveness and equality.This thesis investigates howLGBTiconsare portrayed by the media, or more specifically,the national newspapers, LGBTcommunity sources and social media, and withregard to the first it questions whetherthere are differences in the portrayalof Shiho Shimoyamada, the first openly homosexual female soccer athlete fromJapan, between Japanese and English language media.In the attempt to interrelate sports studies, queer studies and media studies, this thesis investigates in the main the representationof Shiho ShimoyamadainAsahi Shimbun, Japan’s second largest newspaper, and inthe English-language newspaperThe Japan Times. It also provides an overview of the athlete’s self-representation on Twitter which relates closely to her LGBT activism.Investigation of the media sources is executed by qualitative and quantitative analysis of data collected within 13 months(January 1, 2019 -February 28,2020). Categorizing tweets bygroups, the findingsdemonstrategaps in media representation ofsociallyimportant activism and presents the social media self-promotion strategies used by the athlete.

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The purpose of this thesis is to, through media, observe and map the political controversies during the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi and once the games have finished summarize and analyze them in order to close in on a comprehensive understanding of them. In addition to being tinged by the hermeneutics and inductive reasoning the study uses a methodology referred to as a qualitative explanatory case study with an intensive approach. In applying IR-theory, and more specifically the theoretical perspectives of realism, liberalism and social constructivism, the study manage to shy away from mainstream Olympic research. The thesis finds that the political controversies during the Games in Sochi were fewer than anticipated and offers various understandings of why that is, including the realist notion of the triumph of the principle of sovereignty over human rights, the within liberalism found belief of the good nature of mankind, and the social constructivist idea of actions being constrained by social structures.

Abstract: The world of sport is a world of sex segregation. This is true both for the elite sport and for amateur sport. Only a handful of sport disciplines defy this norm. Historically, this segregation had roots in discrimination, sexism and chauvinism. Today, sex segregation is justified by referencing ideals such as fairness, equality and justice. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has implemented various policies in order to promote the principle of non-discrimination and the right to participate in sports. The aim of this thesis is to understand how IOC shifts between different discourses on the topic of transwomen athletes’ participation in sport competitions and how these different discourses are used to govern and identify women and their bodies. Foucault’s theory of governmentality is applied to describe how the shift from medical discourse towards human rights discourse culminates in ambiguous and unclear policies that try to define who is a woman. Through qualitative discourse analysis of IOC documents on transgender women participation in elite sport, this thesis confirms the shift from medical discourse towards human rights discourse, which culminates in IOC unsuccessful attempts to define “woman”.

The Russian Federation’s presence on the global stage of the Olympic Games has been linked with considerable controversy from 2014 onwards. The nation’s use of international sport for promoting its image, state-sponsored doping, and Russia’s illegal occupations of Ukraine staged in close time proximity with the Games are all controversies which have taken their toll on the country’s image, both within and beyond the context of sport. Using a news framing theory and analysis, this thesis examines how RT, a state-sponsored media outlet that operates in alignment with the Russian state, counters these image-affecting controversies through its framings of Russia at the Winter Olympics between 2014 and 2022. This research finds that, while RT has consistently functioned to defend and potentially improve Russia’s image, its framing tactics have shifted substantially over time, and vary significantly depending on the controversy addressed. RT’s articles linked with Russia’s use of sport to promote its image used a wide variety of frames to highlight the impact of Russia’s athletes, justify the funding of the Sochi Olympics, and accuse Western media of “Russia-bashing”. Articles related to Russian doping shifted over time from framing Russian athletes as powerless victims of sport governing body decisions to highlighting supposed Western interference in sport. Articles linked with Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukraine increased substantially in 2022, and most often framed the issue by focusing on the moral values associated with athletes from the two nations. This thesis found that RT’s controversy-linked content increased in publication frequency over time, which along with the above shifts in framing, showcase the increasingly aggressive politicisation of RT’s Olympic sport coverage, which lacks exploration in prior scholarly research.

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The purpose of this qualitative study was to provide a rich description of the experiences of mothering athletes training for and competing in the Olympic Games. Specifically, the study explored the post-partum return to training and competition, the integration of mothering and training responsibilities, the emotional and social experience of being a mother-athlete, and the Olympic experience. A purposive sample of eight athletes was utilized. All participants had competed in either the 2004 Summer or 2006 Winter Olympic Games and was mother to at least one child under the age of six at the time of their Olympic participation. Participants represented six different sports and two North American countries. In-depth interviews were conducted with the participants from September 2007 to April 2008. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed, yielding eight major themes and 26 sub-themes. The themes that emerged included: (1) becoming a mother-athlete, (2) the initial return to training, (3) the effects of motherhood on training and competing, (4) the effects of the elite sport career on motherhood and the family, (5) social support, (6) organizational support, (7) the Olympic experience, and (8) advice and recommendations. In general, participants reported that their children and families enhanced their lives, both in and out of sport. They felt that motherhood gave their lives more balance and gave them a healthier perspective on their sport participation. For most, this resulted in increased enjoyment of sport, less pressure to perform, and in turn, enhanced performance. Participants faced struggles as well. They reported lack of time and energy as barriers to training (especially in the first year of motherhood), and found traveling with children to be logistically and financially difficult. The athletes in this study reported high levels of support, both physical and emotional, from their husbands/partners and immediate families. Within the athletic community, the participants found support from coaches, yet reported varying levels of support from athletic peers and sport organizations. Overall, the athletes reported positive Olympic experiences, with two discussing disappointing experiences. Recommendations for researchers and sport professionals based on the interviews are also discussed. / Kinesiology