Lone Friis Thing

• Semenova, Anna; Knight, Camilla J.; Thing, Lone Friis & McNamee, Mike (2025). Conceptualising ‘vulnerability’ across sport integrity contexts. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. ISSN 1751-1321. p. 1–19. doi: 10.1080/17511321.2025.2563570. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Vulnerability is a multifaceted concept used across disciplines, yet in the context of sport integrity, it remains underexplored and lacks a clear conceptualisation despite its growing usage and wider application. This paper critically examines how the concept of vulnerability is currently incorporated in different sport integrity contexts and research literature. It proposes a novel understanding of vulnerability informed by the fields of research ethics and bioethics, specifically in relation to established analyses and operationalisations of vulnerability. Drawing on the layered account of vulnerability, we conceptualise vulnerability as relational and dynamic, moving beyond fixed and stereotypical categorisations of vulnerability. Our understanding of vulnerability expands the understanding of this concept from its more common association with doping behaviours and populations and illustrates how the layered approach can be helpful in identifying and analysing vulnerability across different sport integrity contexts. In doing so, this paper demonstrates how a bioethics-informed approach can enhance the conceptual clarity and support a more consistent application of vulnerability within sport integrity field.

• Marken, Marlene Zahl; Dalhaug, Emilie Frederikke Mass; Thing, Lone Friis; Abrahamsen, Frank Eirik; Bø, Kari & Haakstad, Lene Annette Hagen (2025). Experiences and perspectives on pregnancy and motherhood in elite athletes–a qualitative study. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM). 33(1), p. 1–16. doi: 10.1080/26410397.2025.2501832. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Elite athletes routinely undertake strenuous training routines, which often involve high-intensity sessions. However, there are knowledge gaps in how they experience training during pregnancy and subsequent return to sport. Combined with inadequate financial and contractual safety, female athletes may jeopardise their careers when starting families. This study aimed to describe female athletes’ experiences and perspectives related to pregnancy and motherhood within the context of elite sports in Norway. We interviewed five world-class athletes between October 2022 and April 2023, using a descriptive qualitative approach. Full interview transcripts were analysed based on a reflexive thematic analysis model. Five overarching themes were identified: (1) uncertainty, (2) lack of supportive networks, (3) physical capacity, (4) the impact of postpartum return to sports on maternal health, and (5) combining motherhood and elite sports. Our findings emphasise the challenges that Norwegian pregnant and postpartum athletes face in balancing motherhood with successful careers, highlighting the importance of providing adequate support systems to ensure their health and the well-being of their child.

• Thing, Lone Friis (2024). Sociology of sport as a diverse and inclusive community. Idrottsforum.org - Nordic Sport Studies Forum. Full text in Research Archive
• Frydendal, Stine & Thing, Lone Friis (2024). Upper secondary school as an innovative health laboratory: A process study about exercise, sport and democracy in a youth culture. In Gabriel, Norman (Eds.), International comparisons in learning and education: Eliasian perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783031609589. p. 221–246. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-60958-9_11. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This chapter is a discussion of process-oriented methodology as a way of studying health promotion among young people in a Danish school setting. We will discuss this by presenting how we have applied process sociology in a health promotion intervention initiated by a Danish upper secondary school from 2010 to 2014, in which we explored the development process based on a democratic, participatory approach to health promotion. We applied Elias’s conceptualization of civilizing processes, focusing especially on the notions of figuration, interdependencies and power, to analyse the figuration of the school in a health promotion context on a macro level. Elias’s notion of the balance between I-, We- and They-identities as well as the distinction between established and outsider groups was also employed as a way to understand the power struggle between individuals and groups within the figuration on a micro level.

• Frydendal, Stine & Thing, Lone Friis (2023). PE as resonance? The role of physical education in an accelerated education system. Sport, Education and Society. ISSN 1357-3322. doi: 10.1080/13573322.2022.2161502. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper explores how students understand physical education (PE) as a subject in the Danish upper secondary school (USS) and discusses the role of the subject after the Danish USS reform of 2017. The paper presents a 6 months’ field study of PE lessons in 2 Danish upper secondary schools. Both schools were located in the Danish capital area. A total of 42 Lessons in 4 PE-classes [N = 240] were observed throughout the 6 months and 8 focus group interviews were conducted with students [N = 54] at the end of the field study. We are inspired by the theoretical contribution of Hartmut Rosa to analyse how students understand physical education (PE) and critically discuss and reflect upon the how this understanding relates to the structure of PE as a USS subject in the light of the political development in the Danish upper secondary schools for the past decades. The study has shown that most students value the subject because it represents a place of resonance during an otherwise accelerated everyday life. At the same time, the USS reform of 2017 gives PE a smaller role in the overall curriculum. However, PE is now, for the first time, an exam subject after the third year of USS. Therefore, the article contributes to a debate regarding the consequences the increased focus on achievement may have on the subject as a place of resonance.

• Jensen, Andorra L. & Thing, Lone Friis (2022). Performing Gender in Recreational Pole Dancing: Enabling and Constraining Factors. Sociological Focus. ISSN 0038-0237. 55(3), p. 254–270. doi: 10.1080/00380237.2022.2066589. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Many people consider pole dancing to be a feminine leisure activity and a female dominated space, but it has recently gained observer status in the Global Association of International Sports Federation (GAISF), thus entering into the field of sport where hegemonic masculinity has historically prevailed. The strong connections between gender, body, and sport and the gender inequalities that permeate the sports culture make it interesting to explore the enabling and constraining factors of performing gender in recreational (i.e., nonoccupational) pole dancing, which is the aim of this article. The methodical approach is qualitative and inspired by ethnography. The article is based on a field study done in Copenhagen, Denmark, including observation, participation, and interviews. The theoretical perspective takes its point of departure in Judith Butler’s theory in Gender Trouble. First, the authors found that the body ideal in pole dance includes both feminine and masculine qualities. The analysis also shows that the different styles of pole dancing (i.e., “sportified” or “sexualized”) and the context in which pole dancing is practiced (i.e., women only or mixed sex) makes a difference regarding what enables and constrains men and women when it comes to performing gender. Inspired by Butler, the authors also discuss which possibilities pole dancing holds for performing gender in new ways, thus challenging oppressive gender norms. Finally, the authors discuss the implications of pole dance becoming a sport in relation to the possibilities of performing gender.

• Hybholt, Maria Gliemann; Ottesen, Laila Susanne & Thing, Lone Friis (2021). Exercise in the time bind of work and family : Emotion management of personal leisure time among middle-aged Danish women. Leisure Studies. ISSN 0261-4367. doi: 10.1080/02614367.2021.1975801. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The aim of the present study was to illuminate how middle-aged women in Denmark manage, practically and emotionally, exercise in personal leisure time within the constraints of an ongoing time bind related to the societal obligations of work and family. The study was inspired by the micro sociological perspective of Arlie Hochschild, and findings are based on empirical material from focus groups of middle-aged Danish women who completed a three months research based exercise intervention (N = 51), and individual follow-up interviews (N = 21). We elucidate how the societal obligations of being successful at work, being a good mother, and being physically active creates a time bind in the everyday life of middle-aged women. Instead of having more leisure time, middle-aged women experience continuous time demands of work flexibility and performance, as well as new time demanding care duties linked to their children, parents, or grandchildren. We conclude that the personal leisure time of Danish women, exemplified by participation in an exercise intervention, is highly constrained by the time bind of market culture. Furthermore, prioritisation of personal leisure time involves considerable emotion management as a consequence of being unable to fulfil the societal obligations of their usual roles.

• Frydendal, Stine; Pedersen, Line Kremmer; Ottesen, Laila Susanne & Thing, Lone Friis (2021). Football Fitness - a figurational study of a new type of leisure football as a meaningful activity for men. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. ISSN 1012-6902. doi: 10.1177/10126902211039765. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article offers a nuanced exploration of Football Fitness (FF), a newer ‘sport for all’ concept carried out in associative sport clubs in Denmark. The aim of the study was to examine FF as a meaningful leisure activity for men. Seven focus group interviews were conducted with 26 heterogeneous male FF players aged 24 to 76. Data were analysed by means of thematic network analysis within the interpretive tradition. Drawing on figurational sociology, more specifically Elias and Dunning’s perspective on leisure sport as a quest for excitement, and Connell’s theory of masculinities, we present three elements of the empirical material all highlighting the social significance of the FF concept. 1: The men’s fight for recognition in the club, 2: Competition as a play element and 3: Social bonding and sport as a male preserve. The findings of the study demonstrate a hegemony of multiple masculinities in football clubs. The play-pleasure values associated with the FF concept does not receive much recognition compared to traditional competitive football. Consequently, the FF players feel like the strange newcomers, experiencing being regarded as outsiders compared to the established players in the clubs. Our study indicates that organisational change do not automatically generate cultural change when implementing health-promotion initiatives such as FF.

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• Hjelseth, Arve; Thing, Lone Friis & Tjønndal, Anne (2024). Idrettssosiologi. Fagbokforlaget. ISBN 9788245046083. 280 p. Full text in Research Archive

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• Strøm, Lis Pedersen & Thing, Lone Friis (2024). The transition into retirement: Sustainable aging through the sociability of exercise? Full text in Research Archive
• Thing, Lone Friis & Frydendal, Stine (2023). “Sport on the Warpath”: An Figurational Reflection on the Role of Sport in an Interdependent World. Full text in Research Archive
• Frydendal, Stine & Thing, Lone Friis (2022). Myth and realities in the paradoxical situation of physical education – a sociological analysis of processes of recognition and status. Full text in Research Archive
• Thing, Lone Friis; Frydendal, Stine & Ottesen, Laila (2022). Sociology of Sport as a diverse and inclusive community. Full text in Research Archive
• Frydendal, Stine & Thing, Lone Friis (2022). “Lots of parents misinterpret it…” A study of the construction of body image in young people’s use of social media. Full text in Research Archive
• Thing, Lone Friis (2022). Idrætten på krigsstien. In Skjeldal, Gudmund & Grønkjær, Allan B. (Ed.), Fred og krig : festskrift til Matti Goksøyr. Norges idrettshøgskole. ISSN 9788250206076. p. 80–94. Full text in Research Archive
• Strøm, Lis Pedersen & Thing, Lone Friis (2023). Trening og fysisk aktivitet blant de yngre eldre: Tidlig innsats for bærekraftig aldring? Norges idrettshøgskole. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Dette prosjektet har som mål å belyse hvilken betydning overgangen fra yrkesaktiv til pensjonist har for livsstil innen fysisk aktivitet og trening for kvinner i 60-årene. Det norske samfunnet står overfor en kraftig vekst i antallet eldre, og fysisk aktivitet kan bidra til en friskere aldring med større sosial deltakelse. Økt fysisk aktivitet blant eldre er et viktig innsatsområde i folkehelsepolitikken, og overgangen fra yrkesaktiv til pensjonist identifiseres som en viktig fase for å endre vaner. Prosjektet er gjennomført med kvalitativ metode i en kommunal svømmehall med treningssenter i Sør-Norge. Empirien består av dybdeintervjuer med seks kvinner som hadde trent der som pensjonister i ett til tre år. Analysen er gjort med tre ulike teoretiske perspektiver; Elias og Dunnings Spare-time spectrum (1986), Cockerhams Health Lifestyle Paradigme (2005, 2021, 2023), og Crossleys The Social Body (2001) og hans artikler basert på empiri fra hans lokale treningssenter (2004, 2006, 2008). Ved å kombinere tre ulike teoretiske perspektiver har målet vært å kunne bidra til å skape en større forståelse for teorigrunnlaget og hvordan det kan anvendes for å belyse etableringen av livsstilsvaner innen trening. Analysen bekreftet tidligere forskning som viser at kvinners livsstilsvaner innen trening i stor grad kan forstås ut fra strukturelle faktorer, og at deltakernes habitus hadde gitt dem en tilbøyelighet til å ønske å øke sitt fysiske aktivitetsnivå når de fikk økt sin tilgjengelige tid som pensjonister. Analysen indikerer at det vil være mer sannsynlig å etablere trening som livsstilsvane hvis praksisen tilleggs mening som nyttig, slik at man ønsker å gi den gis plass i hverdagen som en prioritert rutine, men samtidig må aktiviteten samtidig være slik at den kan oppleves som en lystbetont fritidsaktivitet. Praksisen vil da kunne gis mening på tvers av spare-time spektrumet, og etableres som en livsstilsvane med et bredt vokabular av motiver. Prosjektets empiriske kontekst er et relativt ressurssterkt middelklassemiljø, og analysen indikerte at for deltakerne var et ønske om å opprettholde, eller gjenskape, sin identitet som en sprek person med en aktiv livsstil en viktig driver for deres livsstil innen trening ved pensjonering.

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