“We are climbers!” Life stories of women cyclists in international teams

Abstract

Sport psychology has recently focused on understanding the experiences of migrant transnational elite athletes (i.e., athletes that move through different cultural contexts and face cultural transitions). However, few studies have explored the cultural transition in female athletes. The present study applied the life stories method to explore the experiences of two female Latin-American cyclists when they were transitioning to international professional teams. Thematic analysis allowed us to generate four themes: (a) “the Olympic dream”, (b) “facing the unknown”, (c) “supporting networks” and (d) “women and climbers”. We identified that one of their main reasons to migrate was to improve their family’s quality of life. In addition, during their cultural transitions, both cyclists experienced changes in the communication dynamics with their families and highlighted the key role that partners played in providing emotional support. In the Discussion, we provide strategies to support Latin-American transnational female cyclists during cultural transition.