Morten Renslo Sandvik

• Larsen, Irmelin Instebø; Sandvik, Morten Renslo & Seippel, Ørnulf Nicolay (2026). Deliberate, incidental, incapable, or unwilling: Sport clubs framing of climate issues. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. ISSN 1012-6902. doi: 10.1177/10126902261468035. Full text in Research Archive
• Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2025). Skisse til en dygds- og relasjonsetisk tilnærming til treneretikk. In Loland, Sigmund & Sæle, Ove Olsen (Ed.), Å løpe en risiko: Etiske refleksjoner om å lede praksis i kroppsøving, idrett og friluftsliv. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245047844. p. 99–118. doi: 10.55669/oa610704. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  I ethvert menneskelig møte står noe etisk på spill. Lærere, trenere og veiledere i profesjonsfag som kroppsøving, friluftsliv og idrettsfag i skolen, eller i friluftsliv og organisert idrett på fritiden, møter stadig krevende etiske spenninger og dilemmaer de må ta stilling til. Denne antologien, med tittelen Å løpe en risiko – etiske refleksjoner om å lede praksis i kroppsøving, idrett og friluftsliv, har en bred faglig profil, der forskere fra ulike høyskoler og universiteter i Norge bidrar med sine perspektiver. Det finnes få publikasjoner i Norge som tar opp etiske refleksjoner knyttet til ledelse i disse praksisfeltene, selv om tematikken er svært aktuell. Det er fjorten kapitler i antologien med ulike tematiske vinklinger. De samler seg rundt tre hovedoverskrifter: verdibasert ledelse, kroppsyn og inkludering. I første del, «Å våge verdibasert ledelse», diskuteres sirkusbarn i tidligere norsk idrettshistorie, fotball og bærekraftsprinsipper i kroppsøvingsfaget, samt etiske dilemmaer blant idrettstrenere. I andre del, «Å våge å stole på kroppen», belyses etiske utfordringer knyttet til bruk av kroppsnær teknologi i trening, kroppsbildeproblematikk i kroppsøvingsfaget og verdien av pedagogisk tilrettelagt risiko i friluftslivet. I siste del, «Å våge å inkludere alle», drøfter forfatterne transkjønnede elevers erfaringer i kroppsøvingsfaget, bruk av crossfit-inspirerte aktiviteter i skolen, likhetsprinsippet i organisert idrett, rollekonflikter i ungdomsidrett og idrettslags håndtering av økonomi som barriere for idrettsdeltakelse. Kapittelbidragene har sitt utgangspunkt i ulike fag- og forskningsområder. Noen kapitler har en teoretisk orientering, mens andre bygger på empiriske undersøkelser. Antologiens målgruppe er studenter i høyere utdanning, fagkolleger og forskere på området.

• Sandvik, Morten Renslo & Solstad, Gerd Marie (2023). Hva har Hartmut Rosa å si til idrettsforskningen? Betraktninger om inkludering i en eskalerende idrett, Bevegelsesfellesskap i oppveksten : kritiske perspektiver på inkludering og mangfold. Fagbokforlaget. ISSN 9788245041415. p. 171–186. doi: 10.55669/oa230109. Full text in Research Archive
• Strandbu, Åse; Solstad, Gerd Marie; Stefansen, Kari & Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2022). Sexual Harassment or Just Coaching? Sport Students Making Sense of Possibly Sexualising Coach Behaviours. Social Sciences. 11(12), p. 1–13. doi: 10.3390/socsci11120543. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Research has shown that athletes are divided in their assessment of possibly sexualising behaviours from coaches towards athletes. How they arrive at their conclusions has received less attention—yet it is crucial to understand as a basis for safeguarding measures. Using video-elicitation focus group interviews with sport students, we zoomed in on different types of ‘grey area’ situations involving coaches and athletes. We drew on social script theory to highlight the cultural tools sport students use to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable coaching behaviours. Our analyses showed that the students drew on two types of scripts in their interpretative work: (1) sport scripts, denoting templates for ‘normal’ coach–athlete interactions (typically with a performance and/or caring rationale), and (2) sexual harassment scripts, encompassing beliefs and expectations of how sexual transgressions play out and among whom. We discuss how the students evaluated concrete grey area situations by comparing and contrasting them with both scripts. In these assessments, the students relied on cues and clues from the portrayed interactions, including the gender of the coach and athlete and knowledge about the specific sport setting. Our analyses demonstrate how views about sexual harassment in sport relate to the specificities of the sport setting and the gendered social dynamics in the situation.

• Sandvik, Morten Renslo & Seippel, Ørnulf (2022). Framing of environmental issues in voluntary sport organizations. Environmental Politics. ISSN 0964-4016. doi: 10.1080/09644016.2022.2075152. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This explorative study draws on content analysis of the environmental policy documents of voluntary sport organizations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. We develop a typology of ways in which sport organizations frame environmental problems and find four ideal typical frames: (1) a general non-committal frame; (2) a sport-specific technical frame; (3) a growth-oriented opportunity frame; and (4) a crisis frame viewing environmental issues as an existential crisis for sport. We then explain the emergence of these frames. To this task, we discuss how materialities, institutional mechanisms and wider environmental discourses matter for environmental framing in voluntary sport organizations.

• Loland, Sigmund & Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2021). Leadership in Elite Sport : Normative Tensions and Ethical Decision Making. In Andersen, Svein S; Hansen, Per Øystein & Houlihan, Barrie (Ed.), Embedded Multi-Level Leadership in Elite Sport. Routledge. ISSN 9780367552770. p. 13–25. doi: 10.4324/9781003092728-2. Full text in Research Archive
• Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2020). ‘Fair Play’ as a Larger Loyalty: The Case of Anti-Doping. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. ISSN 1751-1321. 15(2). doi: 10.1080/17511321.2020.1740308. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper explores a redescription of ‘fair play’ as loyalty. Focusing on the context of elite sport and the case of anti-doping, the paper develops an adaptation of Richard Rorty’s call to dispense with the opposition between loyalty and justice. The gist of the loyalty redescription of fair play is twofold. First, the redescription aligns with a conception of moral athlete identity as starting with thick narratives of closely-knit small groups (e.g. teams) and expanding outwards to embrace the thinner narratives and abstract principles of larger groups (e.g. ‘the Olympic movement’). Thus, moral progress occurs when an athlete’s loyalty towards her team is balanced by her loyalty to competitors or to the sport as a whole, to the extent that she plays fair even when she knows that ‘foul play’ will benefit the team. Second, the redescription places the burden on the shoulders of larger sporting communities, such as the ‘Olympic movement’, of recreating themselves as inviting and attracting more and more athletes’ loyalty. The latter point has implications for anti-doping policy and rhetoric that I discuss towards the end of the paper. In brief, I argue that the loyalty redescription of fair play substantiates a philosophical critique of surveillance-based policies such as the whereabouts system and the wider individualization of responsibility shaping current policy and rhetoric.

• Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2019). Sport, stories and morality: a Rortyan approach to doping ethics. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. ISSN 0094-8705. 46(3), p. 383–400. doi: 10.1080/00948705.2019.1622127. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Stories pervade sport. In elite spectator sport, stories play out in packed stadiums while being broadcast simultaneously to immense TV audiences. These stories, which present controversial goals, great comebacks, underdog victories, or clever instances of cheating among other incidents, can foster moral reflection. This paper explores the relationship between sport, stories, and morality. It discusses Richard Rorty’s insistence on narrative as a powerful vehicle to moral change and progress, as one way to understand this relationship. Stories about Justin Gatlin and Therese Johaug – two world-class athletes who tested positive for prohibited substances and served doping bans – are discussed as exemplars of redescriptive narratives: stories that can foster our moral imagination, broaden our conversations and help us to enhance our descriptions and practices of solidarity. In this Rortyan approach, moral progress can occur when the work of narrative redescription joins forces with philosophy’s rational struggle for coherence. Building on this conception of progress, the paper concludes with a reflection on narrative redescription as a method in sport ethics.

• Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2019). Anti-doping ironism. Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics. ISSN 1743-0437. doi: 10.1080/17430437.2019.1703686. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper discusses the potential of anti-doping ironism. It identifies anti-doping fundamentalism as a serious ethical problem producing unnecessary harms, not least for athletes accused, caught or sanctioned in connection with doping offences. Ironism is introduced as a welcome contrast to fundamentalism, encouraging the development of more compassionate and just policy and rhetoric. Building on Richard Rorty’s account of liberal ironism, the anti-doping ironist is presented as a person that supplements anti-doping commitment with an idiosyncratic ethical responsiveness to people with different beliefs from hers. In line with this idiosyncrasy, she seeks to learn from the experiences of ‘doped athletes’ and draws on these in order to redescribe her commitments in more fruitful ways. Narratives are principal sources for the ironist. Accordingly, the paper explores two road cyclists’ ‘confessional autobiographies’ as narratives that speak to the anti-doping ironist’s ethical responsiveness to difference.

• Seippel, Ørnulf; Dalen, Håvard Bergesen; Sandvik, Morten Renslo & Solstad, Gerd Marie (2018). From political sports to sports politics: on political mobilization of sports issues. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. ISSN 1940-6940. 10(4), p. 669–686. doi: 10.1080/19406940.2018.1501404. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  How and why do sports issues turn into politics? The aim of this paper is to explore how politicization of sports might happen, to show how social movement theory might contribute to such understandings and to contribute to a theoretical understanding of the political mobilization of sports issues. To achieve this aim, we outline a three-dimensional theoretical framework based on social movement theory. Thereafter we present six cases of more-or-less contested sports issues: gender, sexuality, doping, extreme wages, boxing/violence and failed talent development. Finally, we discuss the main features of our theoretical framework in light of these cases. How do political opportunity structures contribute to political mobilization of sports issues? How do cultural factors make a difference in political processes concerning sports? Which actors are involved when contested sports issues occur? The aim of this exploration is to discover how various societal factors addressed in our theoretical framework matter relative to how and why sports issues might turn into politics.

• Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2018). The Confession Dilemma: Doping, Lying, and Narrative Identity. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. ISSN 1751-1321. p. 1–14. doi: 10.1080/17511321.2018.1465113. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Despite the commonly held view that confessing to doping is morally right, few former elite athletes who have doped confess to doping. In this paper, I ask whether elite athletes who have doped are morally obliged to confess. I start by observing that the core of the elite athlete’s confession dilemma is located in the dichotomy between lying and veracity. I argue that lying about doping belongs to a particular kind of lying that, in turn, brings about a particular kind of consequence. More specifically, I consider lying about doping in light of an athlete’s personal narrative identity. Initially, the narrative identity view seems to strongly support an elite athlete’s moral obligation to confess (i.e. to start telling the truth about who they really are). However, viewing narrative identity not merely as description (responding to the question, Who am I?) but also prescription (responding to the question, Who should I be?) complicates this picture. The prescriptive perspective of narrative identity is a gateway to understand the significant negative consequences of confessing to doping. In this way, I call into question commonly held views about the moral obligation to confess.

• Sandvik, Morten Renslo; Bakken, Anders & Loland, Sigmund (2018). Anabolic-androgenic steroid use and correlates in Norwegian adolescents. European Journal of Sport Science (EJSS). ISSN 1746-1391. 18(6), p. 903–910. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2018.1459869. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper surveys the prevalence and correlates of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) use among Norwegian adolescents, and examines the degree to which sports participation is a mediating or moderating factor to well-known correlations between AAS use and problem behaviour. The data come from the “Ungdata” study, a cross-national youth survey system offered to all municipalities in Norway (response rate: 74%, N = 77,572). The study demonstrates a lifetime prevalence of AAS use of 1.27% and a higher prevalence among boys (1.81%) than girls (0.76%). The analyses show that AAS use is clearly related to problem behaviour such as violence and other substance use. When controlling for problem behaviour, there are no correlations between AAS use and exercising in a sports club or on one’s own, whilst there is a weak positive correlation between AAS use and exercising in a gym or engaging in other forms of physical exercise such as dancing or martial arts. These patterns are more or less the same for boys and for girls. We conclude that adolescent AAS use is a low-prevalence phenomenon that primarily takes place in smaller subgroups of individuals who engage in other forms of problem behaviour as well.

• Strandbu, Åse; Stefansen, Kari; Smette, Ingrid & Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2017). Young people’s experiences of parental involvement in youth sport. Sport, Education and Society. ISSN 1357-3322. 24(1), p. 66–77. doi: 10.1080/13573322.2017.1323200. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Recently parental involvement in youth sport has intensified, challenging the understanding of youth sports as an arena where adolescents can develop their identity and autonomy. On this background, our study explores how adolescents understand and negotiate their parents’ involvement in sport and how they define ideal and undesirable forms of parental involvement. Our empirical setting is Norway, and we draw on data from 16 focus group interviews among 13–14-year-olds (n = 92) recruited from two lower secondary schools. The analysis shows that young people distinguish between different aspects of the sport activity when defining ideal and undesirable forms of parental involvement. When discussing sport as a healthy activity necessary for physical and social development, the young people interviewed approve of parents’ role in regulating and encouraging participation. When considering the athletic aspects and peer sociability, however, they see parental involvement as mostly undesirable. The analysis also shows that the adolescents generally describe their parents as attentive to the boundaries their children draw for them about levels and types of involvement. Therefore, young people should be seen not only as subjected to parental involvement but also as active co-constructors of valid parental roles in and beyond the sporting arena.

• Sandvik, Morten Renslo; Strandbu, Åse & Loland, Sigmund (2016). Talking Doping : A Frame Analysis of Communication About Doping Among Talented, Young, Norwegian Road Cyclists. Sociology of Sport Journal. ISSN 0741-1235. doi: 10.1123/ssj.2016-0073. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In everyday communication, participants can critically explore their understanding of morally complex phenomena. There has been little effort within the social sciences to provide insight into whether and how athletes communicate among themselves about morally contested topics. This study attempts to fill this gap in the literature. Through focus group interviews and with the help of Goffman's frame analysis, we explore how a group of young, Norwegian road cyclists communicates about doping. The article demonstrates that this communication is strongly norm-regulated and often appears as brief, assertive, and evasive. We show how the communication reflects a hegemonic discourse of doping as immoral and inexcusable. We conclude that this discourse limits explorative communication and may limit young athletes' preparation for doping-related dilemmas and social pressures.

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• Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2026). Å skyte krystaller med kanoner. doi: https:/klassekampen.no/utgave/2026-02-17/a-skyte-krystaller-med-kanoner. Full text in Research Archive
• Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2025). From Climate Knowledge to Climate Action in Sport: Insight into an ongoing research project. Full text in Research Archive
• Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2025). Omfavn kjedsomheten! Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Er ikke langrenn kjedelig å se på? Jovisst. Det er noe av poenget, skriver forsker ved Idrettshøgskolen.

• Seippel, Ørnulf Nicolay & Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2024). A Research Project: From Climate Knowledge to Climate Action in Sport. Full text in Research Archive
• Seippel, Ørnulf Nicolay & Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2023). From climate knowledge to climate action in sport - presentation of a study. Full text in Research Archive
• Solstad, Gerd Marie; Sletten, Mira Aaboen & Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2022). Deltagelse, trivsel og inkludering i barne- og ungdomsidretten - rapportlansering. Full text in Research Archive
• Sandvik, Morten Renslo & Sletten, Mira Aaboen (2022). Hvordan tilrettelegge for bred deltakelse og varig trivsel i idretten? Full text in Research Archive
• Solstad, Gerd Marie & Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2022). Hvorfor slutter ungdom med idrett? Eller: Hvorfor fortsetter de? Full text in Research Archive
• Solstad, Gerd Marie & Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2021). Er mer alltid bedre? Refleksjoner om trender i norsk barneidrett. Full text in Research Archive
• Solstad, Gerd Marie & Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2024). Frivillig i idrettslag: Idrettsorganisering i spennet mellom forening og forretning. OsloMet - storbyuniversitetet. ISSN 9788278948590. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  I et stadig mer profesjonalisert landskap er frivillige fortsatt viktige for organisering av barne- og ungdomsidrett. I denne rapporten undersøker vi frivilliges innsats og vilkår for å skape mer inkluderende idrettsaktiviteter i Oslos nabolagsklubber. Vi belyser hva frivillige trenere og styremedlemmer driver med i praksis, samt faktorer som styrker og begrenser frivillig engasjement i idrettslag. Rapporten er en del av forskningsprosjektet «Idrett for alle i Oslo», som er en satsning på inkludering i barne- og ungdomsidretten i regi av Oslo Idrettskrets.

• Sandvik, Morten Renslo; Aune, Lotte Stang; Strandbu, Åse & Sogn, Hanne Elisabeth (2022). Trygg på trening med Redd Barna. Første delrapport i et følgeforskningsprosjekt. Norges idrettshøgskole. Full text in Research Archive
• Solstad, Gerd Marie; Sandvik, Morten Renslo & Sletten, Mira Aaboen (2022). Deltakelse, trivsel og inkludering i barne- og ungdomsidretten. Delrapport fra forskningen om Idrett for alle i Oslo. OsloMet - storbyuniversitetet. ISSN 9788278947968. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  «Idrett for alle i Oslo» ble startet av Oslo Idrettskrets i 2018 for å skape økt og mer mangfoldig deltakelse blant byens barn og unge. Dette er rapport nummer to fra forskningen som følger prosjektet. Her undersøker vi hvordan deltakelse og trivsel fortoner seg gjennom barne- og ungdomsidretten i Oslo, og hvordan idrettslag involvert i «Idrett for alle i Oslo» tilnærmer seg inkludering overfor ulike aldersgrupper.

• Sandvik, Morten Renslo (2020). Anti-doping as solidarity: A philosophical inquiry into anti-doping in elite sport. Norges idrettshøgskole. ISSN 9788250205796. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Doping in elite sport is commonly understood as a moral problem. In line with this view, antidoping work is set out to protect ‘clean’ athletes and ‘the spirit of sport’ from individual athletes’ and accomplices’ lack of moral rectitude. Arguably, such ‘moralized’ and dogmatic descriptions of doping and anti-doping have warranted the development of a sophisticated control regime of biological testing and surveillance: a regime which raises numerous ethical concerns. Moreover, these descriptions have influenced a public anti-doping discourse of scandalization, mistrust and stigmatization. The main aim of this dissertation is to develop and examine the implications of a philosophical understanding of anti-doping that challenges the dogmatic descriptions and addresses the ethical issues of current anti-doping policy and discourse. Towards this aim, the philosophical methodology of redescription is employed. This approach draws on the neopragmatism of Richard Rorty. The main impetus of Rortyan redescription is the deepening and widening of solidarity. Thus, the dissertation endeavors to develop and examine the implications of a philosophy of anti-doping as solidarity. Four individual papers contribute towards the main aim. Paper 1 places anti-doping within a wider, historically qualified and fallibilistic endorsement of liberal values. The paper develops and examines the implications of ‘ironism’ as a philosophical basis for anti-doping commitment. It suggests that ironism contributes to more compassionate forms of commitment: more tolerant of intentionally doping athletes as persons and more aware of sport organizations’ responsibilities to all athletes. Paper 2 develops a philosophical basis for sport organizations’ anti-doping policy and rhetoric. Redescribing ‘fair play’ as athletes’ expression of loyalty to larger groups, the paper inserts a picture of sport organizations such as the International Olympic Committee, as coordinating bodies of larger groups that appeal, through policy and rhetoric, to athletes’ larger loyalty. Anti-doping policy and rhetoric, in this picture, are developed and critically scrutinized according to their potential for fostering a sense of common interest, interdependence, and reciprocal trust across larger sporting communities. Paper 3 examines whether, and if so how, the purposes of redescription can be served by doping-related stories, playing out in elite sport, narrated through the media and enacted by celebrity-athletes. The paper discusses two stories about athletes sanctioned for doping, interpreted as redescriptive narratives challenging dogmatic descriptions prevailing in respective sporting communities. The story of Justin Gatlin is seen to communicate to the international athletics community the idea that after serving a suspension, it makes sense for an athlete to be included as ‘one of “us”’. Similarly, the paper suggests that the story of Therese Johaug conveys to the Norwegian sporting community that some of these athletes remain ‘one of “us”’ throughout the judicial process. Paper 4 addresses the ‘confession dilemma’ faced by former elite athletes pondering upon the question of whether to publicly confess to doping. The paper sheds light on the dissertation’s main aim by rendering visible ethical problems with the dogmatic, moralized descriptions and introducing the idea of redescription as a means to foster and cultivate alternative understandings of doping-related dilemmas. Overall, the dissertation aspires to show that, conditional upon further development and refinement, there is promise to the philosophical understanding of anti-doping as solidarity. As a main contribution, the dissertation proposes the idea that for anti-doping policy and discourse to progress towards solidarity, what is needed in the current situation are ‘sociological’ redescriptions that draw attention to doping as a social phenomenon, playing out in social networks, fostered and made possible by the social structures of elite sport. Such redescriptions can alter the course of sport communities’ conversations away from prevailing moralized descriptions of doping and anti-doping, towards a wider discourse of cultural and political change in the organization of elite sport.

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