Sigmund Loland

• Sesa, Giulia; Borry, Pascal; Loland, Sigmund; Peek, Kerry; Serner, Andreas & Massey, Andrew [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2026). Managing concussions in football: A review of football associations' return-to-play guidance. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. ISSN 1440-2440. 29(6), p. 640–648. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2026.02.005. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Objectives This study examines the protocols guiding return-to-play following a concussion across the Fédération Internationale de Football Association's Member Associations. Design Qualitative document and content analysis. Methods A document analysis was performed to explore return-to-play following a concussion, as evidenced in formal guidelines, policy documents, and educational resources. Relevant documents were identified through direct outreach to Member Associations and a review of official websites, gathering data from 95 associations. Results 73 Member Associations reported the existence of a return-to-play protocol, structuring it in six broadly coherent stages: (1) initial relative rest, (2) light aerobic exercise, (3) sport-specific activities, (4) non-contact training, (5) full-contact practice, and (6) return-to-play. Substantial variability was identified across protocol components. Differences included: (a) the nature and timing of initial rest (relative vs. absolute) and subsequent stages; (b) criteria for stage progression and symptom management—ranging from requiring complete symptom resolution to permitting advancement with mild or stable symptoms; (c) medical clearance procedures, particularly whether clearance was mandatory or recommended and when it was required throughout the return-to-play process; and (d) return-to-play timing, which spanned from 30 h to 23 days. This study also identified 42 Member Associations that reported following international standards. Limited availability and accessibility of concussion-related materials was also noted. Conclusions The identified differences may hinder optimal concussion management, raising important questions about standardization, player safety, and the evidence underpinning current practices. The findings from this study can support Member Associations in re-evaluating their current approaches and can assist in aligning and improving practices globally.

• Vuorinen, Niko Topias & Loland, Sigmund (2026). AI, Performance Enhancement and Agential Limits. In Carrio, Alberto (Eds.), Artificial Intelligence and Neuroenhancement in Sport. Routledge. ISSN 9781032858814. p. 88–88. doi: 10.4324/9781003520290-5. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This book is the first to take a close look at artificial intelligence and neuroenhancement in the context of sport, and at the potential of these new technologies to act as enablers of neurodoping. It considers the interesting possibilities that these technologies raise for enhancing athletic performance and explores their implications for the ethics, integrity and governance of sport. Featuring the work of leading researchers in sports ethics, bioethics, digital ethics and biotechnology, the book draws on multidisciplinary perspectives from philosophy, education, biology, neuroscience and more to shine light on a technological development that is not yet listed as a prohibited method in the WADA anti-doping code. Exploring fascinating topics including neurostimulation, brainchips, cyborgization and the importance of establishing sound ethical regulations, the book takes a positive ethical view, seeing the lack of previous work in this area as an opportunity to embed ethics in sports technology and promote AI for good in sport. This book is important reading for any advanced student, researcher, administrator or policy-maker with an interest in the ethics of sport, sport technology, sport governance, or artificial intelligence.

• Weldemariam, Hailemariam; Chegeni, Razieh; Pallesen, Ståle; Breivik, Gunnar; Loland, Sigmund & Sagoe, Dominic (2026). The social perception of performance enhancement and body modification: A systematic review and meta-analysis on anabolic steroids, tattoos, and cosmetic surgery. Acta Psychologica. ISSN 0001-6918. 263. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.106240. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  To our knowledge, few studies have attempted to explore the social perception of targets engaged in performance enhancement and body modification, and none has done so through a systematic review and meta-analysis. We conducted a meta-analysis on the social perception of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), tattoo, and cosmetic surgery targets. Eligible experimental studies were identified through electronic database and ad hoc searches up to July 2025. We estimated effect sizes, in terms of the standardized mean difference, for the social perception ratings of the targets involved in the abovementioned practices on demographic, health, and psychosocial factors. Results from 34 studies with 9114 participants on AAS, tattoo, and cosmetic surgery were analyzed. Regarding performance enhancement, observers perceived the AAS (vs. no-AAS) target as less likely to display instrumental aggression, but having higher reactive aggression, lower sportspersonship, higher neuroticism, and lower agreeableness. Regarding body modification, the tattoo (vs. no-tattoo) target was perceived as more artistic, yet of a lower socioeconomic status, more offender typical and reoffend likely, and having lower hireability and competence. Furthermore, the cosmetic surgery (vs. no-cosmetic surgery) target was perceived as more attractive, approachable, trustworthy, and healthier, but also as less competent. Overall, observers show mixed perception of performance enhancement and body modification targets. The strong negative perceptions on competence, criminality, personality, and sportspersonship—especially considering the enhancement and modification overlap—highlight the extent of stigmatizing evaluation associated with these practices behaviours. Preventive, therapeutic, and occupational interventions may benefit from adjusting for the identified social perceptions.

• Loland, Sigmund (2025). Games, rule violations, and fair play. In Nguyen, Thi & Sageng, John Richard (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Games. Routledge. ISSN 9781138229105. p. 360–369. doi: 10.4324/9781315304991-31. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Playing games is a basic human activity, and games raise a great number of fascinating philosophical questions. What, exactly, are we doing when we play a game? What is the value of games for human life? What is the ontology of a game? And could games be, or someday become, a form of art? Comprising twenty-seven chapters by an international team of contributors, The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Games is an outstanding reference source to the core concepts, problems and debates in this exciting subject, and is the first collection of its kind. Beginning with an Introduction by the editors, the Handbook is divided into five clear parts: Introduction and historical foundations Game ontology Play and players Aesthetics of games Ethics and values of games Within these sections key topics are examined, including sport and games; rules in games; cheating in games; simulation; narrative in games; space in videogames; the nature of play; the body and play; avatars; the aesthetics of gameplay; violence; immersion; representation in games; race and gender in games; and many more. The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Games is essential reading for students and researchers working in philosophy of games, philosophy of sport, digital aesthetics and game studies

• Christensen, Jonas Drogseth; McNamee, Mike; Vanlandewijck, Yves & Loland, Sigmund (2025). An ethical framework for Paralympic classification. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. ISSN 1751-1321. doi: 10.1080/17511321.2025.2582552. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article examines the normative foundation of Paralympic classification, focusing on three interconnected ideals articulated in the International Paralympic Committee’s Classification Code: fairness, meaningful competition, and sporting excellence. We develop a specific fair equality of opportunity principle for Paralympic sport (FEOPps), providing a philosophically grounded ethical framework for evaluating classification systems. The principle requires that inequalities between competitors in sport-specific activity limitations resulting from an eligible impairment be eliminated where pragmatically possible and otherwise minimized. This applies when inequalities significantly and systematically impact performance and remain beyond competitors’ influence and control. Building on Rawlsian contractualism and Loland’s fair play theory, we argue that fairness takes lexical priority over other considerations, establishing deontological constraints within which meaningful competition and sporting excellence can be pursued. Meaningful competition occurs when athletes with evenly matched performance potential engage in fair contests with uncertainty of outcome, thereby enabling the display of authentic sporting excellence achieved through talent and effort. This neo-Aristotelian interpretation connects Paralympic sport to broader ideals of human flourishing through meritocratic practices that cultivate virtue and excellence. Applying our ethical framework to current procedures, we show how FEOPps provides both philosophical justification and practical guidance for Paralympic classification systems while highlighting the need for continued normative reflection on the fundamental nature and purposes of Paralympic sport.

• Sesa, Giulia; Borry, Pascal; Loland, Sigmund & Camporesi, Silvia (2025). Restricting sports participation on public health and individual well-being grounds: a critical analysis of sport-related rights. The International Sports Law Journal. ISSN 1567-7559. 25(4), p. 274–285. doi: 10.1007/s40318-025-00312-0. Full text in Research Archive
• Schubring, Astrid; Bergentoft, Helene; Caspers, Andreas; Jaczina, Kristof; Lundvall, Suzanne & Jacobsson, Jenny [Show all 17 contributors for this article] (2025). Sustainable Elite Youth Sports: A Systematic Scoping Review of the Social Dimensions. Sustainable Development. ISSN 0968-0802. 33(5), p. 7575–7590. doi: 10.1002/sd.3526. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Sports have been identified as an important contributor to social sustainability, and the benefits for health, well-being, and social learning in young people are well evidenced. Youth elite sports, however, have been criticized as being unsustainable. Following calls for a more socially sustainable development of youth elite sports, research on the topic has increased. However, studies vary in disciplinary origin, concepts, content, and methodology. The aim of this systematic scoping review is to identify and synthesize the current disciplinary research knowledge. Five disciplinary databases were searched. Based on six eligibility criteria and a double-blind review process, a total of 99 articles were selected. Findings were first charted in tables and then examined using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Key findings are that there is a lack of conceptual clarity regarding social sustainability, and that the field of study is multidisciplinary with distinct thematic research areas (athlete development, athlete health and well-being, athlete development environment). Most research focuses on athlete-related micro aspects and less on organizational and societal dimensions. Inequity issues were found regarding social diversity, including an overrepresentation of soccer and men's sports. Furthermore, mostly quantitative methodologies are used. A theoretically based and empirically tested understanding of social sustainability is needed as well as research addressing aspects of holistic youth development. Attention should be paid to contextual and macro-level influences. Knowledge about preventive programs and practices that advance social sustainability in youth elite sports is necessary. Organizational conditions and funding programs should be created to increase trans- or multidisciplinary research.

• Storaas, Margrethe Voll & Loland, Sigmund (2024). Why do birds have wings? A biosemiotic argument for the primacy of naturogenic sporting sites. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. ISSN 0094-8705. 51(2), p. 208–224. doi: 10.1080/00948705.2024.2334328. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2024). Sport-related concussion (SCR) prevention and the nature of sport: possibilities and limitations. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. ISSN 1751-1321. 18(3-4), p. 373–382. doi: 10.1080/17511321.2024.2361920. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Concussions are traumatic brain injuries that can result from a blow to the head or a jolt to the body. Athletes in many sports are exposed to concussion risks. There is a growing concern in sport and society about sport-related concussions (SRC) and an increasing awareness of the importance of proper diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. A traditional, reactive approach emphasizes sound protocols in cases of suspected SRC. A proactive approach involves identifying various causes of SRC and implementing preventive measures. For example, to reduce SRC prevalence in Canadian youth ice hockey, a ban on body checking has been introduced. When a preventive SRC measure implies a change in the main rules of a sport, it impacts its nature and alters how it is played. This can lead to tensions between SRC prevention and sporting concerns. By employing an extended consequentialist framework that includes normative analyses of the values of sport, I will examine the possibilities and limitations of preventive SRC measures in terms of constitutive rule changes. More specifically, I will propose a consequentialist framework to determine the conditions under which athlete exposure to SRC risks in a given sport can be considered unacceptable, acceptable, and even valuable.

• Skilbred, Anette; Strandbu, Åse & Loland, Sigmund (2024). Youth athletes’ framing of nutritional supplements: Performance enhancement and food. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. ISSN 1012-6902. 60(1), p. 45–63. doi: 10.1177/10126902241260923. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Prior studies have revealed how some nutritional supplements used to enhance performance in sports are considered problematic because they are associated with doping. In this study, frame analysis is applied to scrutinise interviews conducted with 24 ambitious youth athletes enrolled in elite sport schools. The analysis enables exploration of the athletes’ understanding and meaning-making concerning the so-called grey zone supplements in terms of two major frames. The first performance frame is expected as the context is elite youth sport, and many aspects of the athletes’ lives revolve around athletic progress. However, the more interesting finding is that this performance frame permeates almost all aspects of the young athletes’ lives, including how food is both understood and consumed. The second frame implies the framing of nutritional supplements as food. Here, the use of supplements is rationalised by practical concerns such as hectic training and teaching schedules that leave little time for meals, with supplements becoming a quick fix to meet energy needs. Hence, meaning-making concerning the grey zone supplements gives rise to an alternative framing linked to food and eating, although an overarching logic of performance also exerts a significant impact.

• Skilbred, Anette; Loland, Sigmund & Strandbu, Åse (2024). Young networked athletes and performance-enhancing substances: who are the actors in their network, and how do the actors shape athletes’ meaning-making? European Journal for Sport and Society (EJSS). ISSN 1613-8171. 21(4), p. 317–336. doi: 10.1080/16138171.2024.2335578. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Ambitious youth athletes continually strive to enhance their performance, and as they age, more people are involved in this process. Athletes are immersed in a network of actors who wield significant influence over their performance-enhancing endeavours, encompassing training, nutrition, and at times, the use of various performance-enhancing substances. Our study predominantly revolves around various permitted substances, primarily in the form of nutritional supplements of various kinds. Also relevant in this regard is anti-doping, as knowledge of and a critical attitude towards supplements are a central part in this preventative educational work. More specifically, in this study, we explore the actors that contribute to young athletes meaning-making of nutritional supplements and anti-doping and examine how the young athletes describe these actors’ contribution. Twenty-four athletes from private elite upper secondary sport schools (PEUSS) in Norway were interviewed, with a semi-structured approach to facilitate the various tales. Our analysis revealed seven actors/actor groups in athletes’ network. The actors/actor groups were diverse and contributed to athletes meaning-making in different ways. We argue that the diversity of actors illustrates the relevance of the networked athlete concept and that the concept should be further developed by interactionist perspectives.

• Skilbred, Anette; Strandbu, Åse & Loland, Sigmund (2024). Performing performance: young aspiring athletes’ presentation of athletic identity. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. 6. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1383559. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Youths are in the process of figuring out answers to the question “who am I?” and young athletes are searching for athletic identity in interaction with their friends, teammates, coaches, and so on. This study explores athletes' presentations of athletic identity based on 24 interviews with ambitious young athletes attending upper secondary sport schools. Anchored in Goffman's theory of the self and the presentation of the self, as well as Markus and Nurius' concept of possible selves, the study views identity as socially constructed in interaction. Utilising this theoretical perspective alongside thematic analysis resulted in four themes that reveal characteristics that are deemed central in an athletic identity. First, the theme I am a dutiful athlete constitutes integral facets of the athletes' self-presentation as committed and diligent individuals. The interviews also bring to light variations in the athletes' attitudes and approaches towards these expectations and concepts. The remaining three themes: I must be unique, We must be unique, and I must have fun, illustrate how being a performing athlete extends beyond duties tied to training, resting, and eating. While the findings suggest the existence of certain dominant and desirable characteristics in an athletic identity, they also highlight variations in identities, emphasising negotiation and flexibility in handling the athlete role.

• Loland, Sigmund (2023). The Idea of Natural Athletic Performance : An Interpretation and a Defence. In Svensson, Daniel; Backman, Erik; Hedenborg, Susanna & Sörlin, Sverker (Ed.), Sport, Performance and Sustainability. Routledge. ISSN 9781003283324. p. 19–30. doi: 10.4324/9781003283324-3. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund & Bäckström, Åsa (2023). Into the glidescape: an outline of gliding sports from the perspective of applied phenomenology. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. ISSN 0094-8705. 50(3). doi: 10.1080/00948705.2023.2260447. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  There is an absence in the literature on sports of a conceptualization of what in French are labeled sports de glisse: sports that imply gliding on water, through air, and on snow and ice, such as surfing, paragliding, skiing, and skating. Inspired by Ingold’s (1993) concept of the taskscape, we introduce the idea of the glidescape: a perceptual field in which gliding sports practitioners inhabit, create, and transform their environment while at the same time being recreated and transformed themselves. Using an applied phenomenological approach, we describe the main experiential qualities and structure of the glidescape. In the quest for extended phases of effortless movement, gliders engage in a clearly accentuated rhythm with sharp contrasts between forceful effort and smooth effortlessness based on a fine-tuned proprioceptive sense for material and ecological resonance, which opens fleeting and emplaced moments of freedom and authenticity.

• McNamee, Mike; Anderson, Lynley C.; Borry, Pascal; Camporesi, Silvia; Derman, Wayne & Holm, Søren [Show all 16 contributors for this article] (2023). Sport-related concussion research agenda beyond medical science: Culture, ethics, science, policy. Journal of Medical Ethics. ISSN 0306-6800. doi: 10.1136/jme-2022-108812. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Concussion in Sport Group guidelines have successfully brought the attention of brain injuries to the global medical and sport research communities, and has significantly impacted brain injury-related practices and rules of international sport. Despite being the global repository of state-of-the-art science, diagnostic tools and guides to clinical practice, the ensuing consensus statements remain the object of ethical and sociocultural criticism. The purpose of this paper is to bring to bear a broad range of multidisciplinary challenges to the processes and products of sport-related concussion movement. We identify lacunae in scientific research and clinical guidance in relation to age, disability, gender and race. We also identify, through multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary analysis, a range of ethical problems resulting from conflicts of interest, processes of attributing expertise in sport-related concussion, unjustifiably narrow methodological control and insufficient athlete engagement in research and policy development. We argue that the sport and exercise medicine community need to augment the existing research and practice foci to understand these problems more holistically and, in turn, provide guidance and recommendations that help sport clinicians better care for brain-injured athletes.

• Loland, Sigmund; Ettema, Gertjan & Sandbakk, Øyvind Bucher (2023). The study of movement skills in sports: toward an integrative approach. Frontiers in Psychology. 14. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1252201. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The article commences with a fundamental objective: to comprehend movement skills in sports in a manner that can bridge the dualist gap between experiential qualities observed in practice and theoretical and mechanistic explanations. Drawing inspiration from Kuhn’s concept of scientific paradigms, practical examples from skiing research, and innovative insights into the integration of phenomenology and mechanistic explanation in cognitive science, we have outlined a three-step integrative approach. The first step entails the development of phenomenological descriptions of the primary experiential qualities inherent in the execution of the skills being investigated. In the second step, phenomenological descriptions play a pivotal role by setting constraints and delineating a space for the elaboration of multilevel mechanistic analyses. These analyses draw upon insights from various fields, encompassing biomechanics, motor control approaches, expertise studies, and cognitive science. The third step involves the systematization of findings and the formulation of sport-specific movement skills theories. We contend that such theories hold substantial significance as they serve as valuable supplements to skill studies conducted within rigid, nomological frameworks. Sport-specific theories include descriptions of first-person experiential qualities and can contribute to bridging the theory-practice gap effectively.

• Loland, Sigmund (2023). Sport, values, and character. In Wenner, Lawrence A. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of sport and society. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780197519011. p. 27–47. Full text in Research Archive
• Kristensen, Jan Åge; Skilbred, Anette; Abrahamsen, Frank Eirik; Ommundsen, Yngvar & Loland, Sigmund (2022). Performance-enhancing and health-compromising behaviors in youth sports: A systematic mixed-studies review. Performance Enhancement & Health. 10(4). doi: 10.1016/j.peh.2022.100237. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Success in sports entails striving toward greater achievement and outstanding performance. In their pursuit of these goals, adolescent athletes use various means and resort to behaviors that may cause adverse consequences for their health. As they are still in the developmental stage, they are particularly vulnerable to unwanted health consequences. This study aimed to systematically review previous studies on the contextual and personal factors associated with adolescent athletes’ performance-enhancing and health-compromising behaviors. The review was conducted and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 guidelines. Several databases were searched, including SPORTDiscus, Pubmed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. The literature search and additional manual searches of sources yielded a total of 2,808 articles. These were screened against the inclusion criteria, and the remaining 15 were assessed for eligibility using Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool 2018. Convergent meta-integration with thematic analysis was performed by converting quantitative and qualitative data from young athletes aged 14–20 years into relevant codes and themes. Within these themes, the study's findings are presented through narratives that are perceived to influence young athletes’ use of doping and other behaviors that may lead to doping, such as the use of nutritional supplementation and non-prescription painkillers and playing despite being injured and having pain. Our findings indicate that athletes’ entourages (e.g., their coaches, peers, and parents) matter in a variety of ways in athletes’ socialization toward refraining from risking their health in pursuit of greater achievement and outstanding performance.

• Gammelsæter, Hallgeir & Loland, Sigmund (2022). Code red for elite sport : a critique of sustainability in elite sport and a tentative reform program. European Sport Management Quarterly. ISSN 1618-4742. 23(1), p. 104–124. doi: 10.1080/16184742.2022.2096661. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Research question: Is elite sport compatible with environmental sustainability? This paper critically investigates elite sports’ possible future in a world where cutbacks in resource use, pollution, and greenhouse gas emission are indispensable measures towards environmental sustainability. Research methods: The paper is a conceptual and pragmatic inquiry that uses the current research literature to explore the logics of elite sport and its dynamics and alignment with paradigms of sustainability. Results and findings: Elite sport’s extensive engagement with governments and commercial agents pursuing prestige, growth, and profit has created a current state of overheating and runaway processes that threatens both sport’s internal values and nature itself. The situation begs extending the self-imposed constraints in sports practice to the governance of sport in a way that is fully compatible with elite sport. Implications: Provided concrete sustainability reforms are substantiated, on the innovation of equipment and technology, on state and commercial financing of elite sport, and on the organizing of competitions and mega-events, elite sport can flourish as a healthier and environmentally friendly social activity.

• Breivik, Gunnar; Sagoe, Dominic & Loland, Sigmund (2022). Personality and willingness towards performance enhancement and body modification: A cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of Norwegians. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. 4. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2022.906634. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  We conducted an exploratory investigation of the relationship between personality and willingness towards performance enhancement and body modification in Norway. The study is based on Norwegian Monitor data from a cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of 4,233 (females: 49.9%) persons aged 15 to 96 (45.92 ± 18.02) years. Data were collected using a questionnaire containing demographic questions and measures of physical appearance satisfaction, physical activity level, personality (five-factor model), and willingness towards performance enhancement (e.g., substances that improve creative thinking) and body modification (e.g., use of muscle-building substances). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses. We found that 62.2% and 50.1% of our sample were either willing to use or contemplating using substances that reduce memory failure and enhance physical fitness respectively. Our sample was most willing or contemplating tattooing (30.0%) and generally skeptical of the other body modification methods with willingness to use or contemplating using substances to enhance muscularity least accepted (3.9%). Higher fantasy/openness and lower agreeableness were associated with higher willingness towards both performance enhancement and body modification. Additionally, higher extraversion and lower control/conscientiousness predicted higher willingness towards body modification. Our findings corroborate previous indications that performance enhancement and body modification are now mainstream. They also underline the importance of personality traits in willingness towards these practices.

• Loland, Sigmund & McNamee, Mike (2022). Olympism and the idea of anti-doping: between the thick and thin interpretations of sporting progress. In Rabin, Olivier & Corazza, Ornella (Ed.), Emerging drugs in sport. Springer. ISSN 9783030792923. p. 113–126. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-79293-0_8. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2021). Classification in sport: A question of fairness. European Journal of Sport Science (EJSS). ISSN 1746-1391. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2021.1923816. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Competitor classification schemes have been a part of sport since its origins. Eligibility criteria have developed towards inclusion and increasing diversity. The pool of competitors has expanded from the ancient Olympic Games, eligible only to free Greek men, via nineteenth-century English sport favouring primarily the upper class of so-called gentlemen amateurs, to the current global and diverse pool of men, women, children, and able-bodied as well as disabled persons. Hence, the challenge of sound classification schemes has increased. This article examines the principles of fair classification of athletes. With the help of normative theory as well as practical examples, a fair equality of opportunity principle for sport (FEOPs) is formulated. It is demonstrated how sound classification schemes combine the normative backing from FEOPs with relevant scientific insights. Current classification challenges and possibilities for change are discussed. It is suggested that in several sports, biological sex classes can be abandoned, and that in some sports, sex classes can be replaced by body size classes. It is argued, too, that sports in which body height exerts a significant and systematic impact on performance should classify accordingly. In the final part, classification is discussed in light of new techno-scientific possibilities, among them the possibility of innovative performance-enhancing prosthetics.

• 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
• Hamilton, Blair R.; Lima, Giscard Humberto Oliveira; Barrett, James; Seal, Leighton; Kolliari-Turner, Alexander & Wang, Guan [Show all 70 contributors for this article] (2021). Integrating Transwomen and Female Athletes with Differences of Sex Development (DSD) into Elite Competition: The FIMS 2021 Consensus Statement. Sports Medicine. ISSN 0112-1642. 51(7), p. 1401–1415. doi: 10.1007/s40279-021-01451-8. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Sport is historically designated by the binary categorization of male and female that conflicts with modern society. Sport’s governing bodies should consider reviewing rules determining the eligibility of athletes in the female category as there may be lasting advantages of previously high testosterone concentrations for transwomen athletes and currently high testosterone concentrations in differences in sex development (DSD) athletes. The use of serum testosterone concentrations to regulate the inclusion of such athletes into the elite female category is currently the objective biomarker that is supported by most available scientific literature, but it has limitations due to the lack of sports performance data before, during or after testosterone suppression. Innovative research studies are needed to identify other biomarkers of testosterone sensitivity/responsiveness, including molecular tools to determine the functional status of androgen receptors. The scientific community also needs to conduct longitudinal studies with specific control groups to generate the biological and sports performance data for individual sports to inform the fair inclusion or exclusion of these athletes. Eligibility of each athlete to a sport-specific policy needs to be based on peer-reviewed scientific evidence made available to policymakers from all scientific communities. However, even the most evidence-based regulations are unlikely to eliminate all differences in performance between cisgender women with and without DSD and transwomen athletes. Any remaining advantage held by transwomen or DSD women could be considered as part of the athlete’s unique makeup.

• Loland, Sigmund (2021). The poetics of everyday movement: Human movement ecology and urban walking. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. ISSN 0094-8705. 48(2), p. 219–234. doi: 10.1080/00948705.2021.1915148. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Departing from the hegemonic position of epidemiology in population physical activity (PA) research and policy, I argue for the significance of a complementary, holistic approach: human movement ecology (HME). The argument is developed in two steps. In a first step, and using perspectives from body ecology and eco-philosophy, I emphasize the potential in movement of a ’dynamic and spontaneous ecologization’, which opens for the development of ecological consciousness and sustainable practice. In a second step, I test HME towards a ’hard case’: everyday routine walking in urban settings. Even here, and paying particular attention to the nature of habitual movement and the need for a ’greening’ of urban environments, I point to a significant movement ecological potential. I conclude that HME provides a fertile and complementary conceptual alternative to PA epidemiology. The challenge of low population PA levels is probably best met with facilitating for movement as an integral part of a sustainable everyday life. Actually, with an increased realization of HME ideals in practice, instrumental PA policies would become less relevant and, on a longer-term basis, perhaps not needed at all.

• Petróczi, Andrea; Backhouse, Susan H.; Boardley, Ian D.; Saugy, Martial; Pitsiladis, Yannis & Viret, Marjolaine [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2020). ‘Clean athlete status’ cannot be certified: Calling for caution, evidence and transparency in ‘alternative’ anti-doping systems. International journal of drug policy. ISSN 0955-3959. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.103030. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Athletes, sponsors and sport organisations all have a vested interest in upholding the values of clean sport. Despite the considerable and concerted efforts of the global anti-doping system over two decades, the present system is imperfect. Capitalising upon consequent frustrations of athletes, event organisers and sponsors, alternative anti-doping systems have emerged outside the global regulatory framework. The operating principles of these systems raise several concerns, notably including accountability, legitimacy and fairness to athletes. In this paper, we scrutinise the Clean Protocol™, which is the most comprehensive alternative system, for its shortcomings through detailed analysis of its alleged logical and scientific merits. Specifically, we draw the attention of the anti-doping community – including researchers and practitioners – to the potential pitfalls of using assessment tools beyond the scope for which they have been validated, and implementing new approaches without validation. Further, we argue that whilst protecting clean sport is critically important to all stakeholders, protocols that put athletes in disadvantageous positions and/or pose risks to their professional and personal lives lack legitimacy. We criticise the use of anti-doping data and scientific research out of context, and highlight unintended harms that are likely to arise from the widespread implementation of such protocols in parallel with – or in place of – the existing global anti-doping framework.

• Loland, Sigmund (2020). Caster Semenya, athlete classification, and fair equality of opportunity in sport. Journal of Medical Ethics. ISSN 0306-6800. 46(9), p. 584–590. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2019-105937. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  According to the Differences of Sex Development (DSD) Regulations of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Caster Semenya and other athletes with heightened testosterone levels are considered non-eligible for middle distance running races in the women’s class. Based on an analysis of fair equality of opportunity in sport, I take a critical look at the Semenya case and at IAAF’s DSD Regulations. I distinguish between what I call stable and dynamic inequalities between athletes. Stable inequalities are those that athletes cannot impact or control in any significant way such as inequalities in biological sex, body size and chronological age. Dynamic inequalities, such as inequalities in strength, speed and endurance, or in technical and tactical skills, can be impacted and to a certain extent controlled by athletes. If stable inequalities exert significant and systematic impact on performance, they provide a rationale for classification. If high testosterone level is an inborn, strong and systemic driver of performance development, inequalities in such levels can provide a rationale for classification. As is emphasised by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), this leads to a dilemma of rights: the right of Semenya to compete in sport according to her legal sex and gender identity, and the right of other athletes within the average female testosterone range to compete under fair conditions. I conclude with providing conditional support of the CAS decision in the Semenya case and of IAAF’s DSD Regulations.

• Loland, Sigmund (2020). Response to commentaries on 'Caster Semenya, athlete classification, and fair equality of opportunity in sport'. Journal of Medical Ethics. ISSN 0306-6800. 46(9), p. 599–600. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2020-106755. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund & McNamee, Michael John (2019). The ‘spirit of sport’, WADAs code review, and the search for an overlapping consensus. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. ISSN 1940-6940. doi: 10.1080/19406940.2019.1581646. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this paper, we argue for the recognition that anti-doping is in itselffirst andforemost an ethical position. The current World Anti-doping Code formula-tion of‘the spirit of sport’is an acknowledgement of this point anda counterweight against scientific and technicist understandings of the nat-ureofanti-dopingitself.WecriticallyreviewtheCodeformulationson‘thespirit of sport’. Based on a theoretical background of various approaches tonormative agreement and consensus in a setting of diversity of‘comprehen-sive views’, we argue for revision of the Code. Specifically, we argue for a re-formulation of‘the spirit of sport’in terms of athlete protection and thepreservation of the integrity of sporting competition that could meet require-ments on an overlapping consensus among all WADA stakeholders. This isnot just a matter of formality and Code acceptance. An overlapping consen-sus is not a meremodus vivendibut a normative consensus based on fair,honest, and transparent discourse in which participants deliberate in a settingof mutual respect and trust, and of‘decency’, which is a basis for a consensusthat cultivates authentic stakeholder commitment.

• Loland, Sigmund (2018). Performance-Enhancing Drugs, Sport, and the Ideal of Natural Athletic Performance. American Journal of Bioethics. ISSN 1526-5161. 18(6), p. 8–15. doi: 10.1080/15265161.2018.1459934. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The use of certain performance-enhancing drugs (PED) is banned in sport. I discuss critically standard justifications of the ban based on arguments from two widely used criteria: fairness and harms to health. I argue that these arguments on their own are inadequate, and only make sense within a normative understanding of athletic performance and the value of sport. In the discourse over PED, the distinction between “natural” and “artificial” performance has exerted significant impact. I examine whether the distinction makes sense from a moral point of view. I propose an understanding of “natural” athletic performance by combining biological knowledge of training with an interpretation of the normative structure of sport. I conclude that this understanding can serve as moral justification of the PED ban and enable critical and analytically based line drawing between acceptable and nonacceptable performance-enhancing means in sport.

• Loland, Sigmund (2018). Morgan, the ‘Gratuitous’ Logic of Sport, and the Art of Self-Imposed Constraints. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. ISSN 1751-1321. 12(4), p. 348–360. doi: 10.1080/17511321.2018.1493530. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Sport occupies a significant role in modern society and has a wide following. In his Leftist Theories of Sport (LTS), Morgan examines what he considers to be a degradation of modern sport and the lack of proper critical theory to address this challenge. In the latter part of LTS, Morgan presents a reconstructed critical theory with ‘a liberal twist’ in terms of an analysis of what he sees as the internal ‘gratuitous’ logic of sport, and a call for critical deliberation in sporting practice communities. I depart from Morgan’s ideas of the ‘gratuitous’ logic of sport which, I believe, has significant potential and operative force. I interpret the logic of sport as forms of self-imposed constraints at three levels: in the logic of the rules, in norms for fair play, and in a particular interpretation of sporting excellence as a form of human excellence. Using the practical case of performance-enhancing drugs, I demonstrate how this interpretation can exert operative power. I conclude by pointing to the internal ‘gratuitous’ logic of sport as cultivating what Goethe classically defined as a sign of mastery: the art of limitation and self-imposed constraints.

• Loland, Sigmund (2018). Sport: a scientific experiment? Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics. ISSN 1743-0437. doi: 10.1080/17430437.2018.1435003. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Science plays an increasingly important role in sport. Innovative high-tech equipment and research-based exercise regimes are vivid examples. In more subtle forms, scientific ways of thinking impact how sport is understood and practiced. I examine the possibilities and limits of scientific rationality in the set-up of competitive sport. Standard requirements on reliability and validity make sense when it comes to the quest for equal opportunity, and for fair and impartial evaluation of performance. However, whereas the instrumental aim of science is ‘certified’ knowledge, I argue that sport has primary meaning and value in itself. In further analysis of the normative structure of sport, an alternative ludic rationality emerges with elements of merit, chance and luck. I argue that sport is structured to cultivate not only athletic but human excellence. I conclude that upholding ludic rationality, operationalized in norms for fair play, is crucial for realizing sport’s characteristic values.

• Borry, Pascal; Caulfield, Timothy; Estivill, Xavier; Loland, Sigmund; McNamee, Michael & Knoppers, Bartha Maria (2018). Geolocalisation of athletes for out-of-competition drug testing: Ethical considerations. Position statement by the WADA Ethics Panel. British Journal of Sports Medicine. ISSN 0306-3674. 52(7), p. 456–459. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2017-098299. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Through the widespread availability of location-identifying devices, geolocalisation could potentially be used to place athletes during out-of-competition testing. In light of this debate, the WADA Ethics Panel formulated the following questions: (1) should WADA and/or other sponsors consider funding such geolocalisation research projects?, (2) if successful, could they be proposed to athletes as a complementary device to Anti-Doping Administration and Management System to help geolocalisation and reduce the risk of missed tests? and (3) should such devices be offered on a voluntary basis, or is it conceivable that they would be made mandatory for all athletes in registered testing pools? In this position paper, the WADA Ethics Panel concludes that the use of geolocalisation could be useful in a research setting with the goal of understanding associations between genotype, phenotype and environment; however, it recognises that the use of geolocalisation as part of or as replacement of whereabouts rules is replete with ethical concerns. While benefits remain largely hypothetical and minimal, the potential invasion of privacy and the data security threats are real. Considering the impact on privacy, data security issues, the societal ramifications of offering such services and various pragmatic considerations, the WADA Ethics Panel concludes that at this time, the use of geolocalisation should neither be mandated as a tool for disclosing whereabouts nor implemented on a voluntary basis.

• Loland, Sigmund (2018). Sport, Performance-enhancing Drugs, and the Art of Self-imposed Constraints. International Journal of Applied Philosophy. ISSN 0739-098X. 32(1), p. 87–100. doi: 10.5840/ijap2018828102. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Should the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PED) be banned in sport? A proper response to this question depends upon ideas of the meaning and value of sport. To a certain extent, sport is associated with ideal values such as equality of opportunity, fair play, performance and progress. PED-use is considered contrary to sport. On the other hand, critics see sport as an expression of non-sustainable and competitive individualism that threatens human welfare and development. PED-use is considered a logical consequence of sport values. I challenge both views as simplistic and inadequate. I develop what I refer to as the normative structure of sport consisting of self-imposed constraints at three levels: in the formal rules, in norms for fair play, and in the interpretation of athletic excellence as a morally relevant instantiation of human excellence. I argue that the question of a ban on PED should be discussed at the third level and depends upon interpretations of athletic excellence as a form of human excellence. I conclude that, in the current situation of elite sport, proponents of a ban on PED seem to have the strongest arguments.

• Durbin, Daniel; Loland, Sigmund & McNamee, Mike (2018). Morgan and the Sporting Life. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. ISSN 1751-1321. p. 1–2. doi: 10.1080/17511321.2018.1535523. Full text in Research Archive
• 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.

• Loland, Sigmund (2018). Ethics of technology in sport. In Morgan, William J. (Eds.), Ethics in sport. Human Kinetics. ISSN 9781492556763. p. 273–286. doi: 10.5040/9781492595465.ch-018. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2017). The exercise pill: should we replace exercise with pharmaceutical means? Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. ISSN 1751-1321. 11(1), p. 63–74. doi: 10.1080/17511321.2016.1272132. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  New physiological and pharmacological research points to the possibility of a pill that produces the complete physiological effects of exercise. Is replacement of exercise with a pill a good idea? And if so, under what circumstances? To explore answers, I have examined three approaches to the understanding exercise. From a dualist point of view, exercise is explained mechanistically in terms of physiological cause and effect relationships. From this perspective, and in particular for reluctant exercisers, there seems to be no strong argument against the use of a pill. From a phenomenological point of view, exercise is understood from a first person perspective focusing on experiential qualities. It is argued that a pill can never replace the embodied, experiential values of exercising and their potential ethical significance. In other words, the use of a pill is rejected. From a critical social constructivist point of view, exercise is understood as an expression of sociocultural values. Exercise can be a source of both bodily alienation and embodied self-realization and meaning. It is argued that in settings of alienating exercise malpractice, an exercise pill can be a temporary lesser evil approach. It is pointed out, however, that the long-term solution to malpractice is not a pill but a change of practice. In a final section, the possibility of the exercise pill is contextualized in the larger, bio-ethical debate on human enhancement.

• Loland, Sigmund & McNamee, Mike (2017). Philosophical reflections on the mission of the European College of Sport Science: Challenges and opportunities. European Journal of Sport Science (EJSS). ISSN 1746-1391. 17(1), p. 63–69. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2016.1210238. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The European College of Sport Science (ECSS) was established in part to promote the integrated study of sports and related phenomena from multi- and interdisciplinary perspectives. There are significant and enduring philosophical, epistemological and professional challenges and opportunities that arise from this integrationist perspective. In this article, we reflect upon the challenges that have arisen in the development of sport sciences in the attempt to realize the ECSS mission. We identify three paradigmatic approaches to sports science: (1) the mechanistic; (2) the hermeneutic and (3) the critical. We critically evaluate these paradigms and their potential within the broad framework of integrationist ambitions for sports science as a scientific field.

• Andersen, Wivi & Loland, Sigmund (2017). Jumping for recognition: Women's ski jumping viewed as a struggle for rights. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. ISSN 0905-7188. 27(3), p. 359–365. doi: 10.1111/sms.12662. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  With the campaign for women’s participation in international and Olympic ski jumping as a practical case, sport’s potential for recognition of individual rights is explored. In line with Honneth’s influential ethical theory, recognition of rights refers to a mutual recognition between persons of each other as rational and responsible agents with an equal right to take part in the public formation and development of their community or practice. The argument is that women ski jumpers were entitled to compete as they had actual and/or potential capabilities and skills to contribute in the public formation and development of their sport. Their exclusion was a violation of individual rights. At a more general level, sport is discussed as a sphere for recognition of rights. It is argued that the basic principles of equal opportunity to take part and to perform make sport a particularly clear and potent sphere for such recognition, and also for the identification of rights violations. In sport, rights, or the violation of rights, are demonstrated in concrete and embodied ways. It is concluded that struggles for recognition and individual rights are a continuous process in sport as in most other human institutions and practices.

• Loland, Sigmund (2017). Education in anti-doping : the art of self-imposed constraints. In Rabin, Olivier & Pitsiladis, Yannis (Ed.), Acute topics in anti-doping. S. Karger. ISSN 9783318060430. p. 153–159. doi: 10.1159/000460725. Full text in Research Archive
• 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.

• Loland, Sigmund & McNamee, Michael (2016). Anti-doping, performance enhancement and 'the spirit of sport' : a philosophical and ethical critique. In Ahmadi, Nader; Ljungqvist, Arne & Svedsäter, Göran (Ed.), Doping and public health. Routledge. ISSN 9781138918559. p. 111–123. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2016). Simon on luck and desert in sport: a review and some comments. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. ISSN 0094-8705. 43(1), p. 15–25. doi: 10.1080/00948705.2015.1119048. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  During the 1000-meter short track speed skating event of the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympic Games, a series of extraordinary situations arose.1 The Australian skater Steven Bradbury won what is perhaps the most unexpected gold medal in Olympic history. In the quarterfinal, Bradbury finished third. However, as number two Canadian favorite Marc Gagnon was disqualified for having obstructed another skater, Bradbury proceeded to the semifinal. Here, he skated defensively to exploit possibilities if faster skaters collided and fell. As three of his competitors fell, Bradbury came in second and proceeded to the final. History repeated itself. In the last round, with Bradbury lagging 15 meters behind, all four competitors crashed and fell. Bradbury passed the finishing line as the winner and became the first Winter Olympic champion of the Southern Hemisphere. The story of Steven Bradbury raises many questions. To some, he became a cult figure and an example of the significance of never giving in and of the possibilities of the underdog. Others criticized the competition and argued that it failed, as ‘the best skater’ did not win. A third, more systematic perspective implied a discussion of the very setup and rules of short-track speed skating and the role of chance and luck vs. merit and desert. Clearly, competitions with improbable outcomes challenge our ideas of the meaning and value of sport.

• Loland, Sigmund (2015). Fair play. In McNamee, Mike & Morgan, William J. (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Sport. Routledge. ISSN 9780415829809. p. 333–350. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2015). Against Genetic Tests for Athletic Talent: The Primacy of the Phenotype. Sports Medicine. ISSN 0112-1642. 45(9), p. 1229–1233. doi: 10.1007/s40279-015-0352-5. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  New insights into the genetics of sport performance lead to new areas of application. One area is the use of genetic tests to identify athletic talent. Athletic performances involve a high number of complex phenotypical traits. Based on the ACCE model (review of Analytic and Clinical validity, Clinical utility, and Ethical, legal and social implications), a critique is offered of the lack of validity and predictive power of genetic tests for talent. Based on the ideal of children’s right to an open future, a moral argument is given against such tests on children and young athletes. A possible role of genetic tests in sport is proposed in terms of identifying predisposition for injury. In meeting ACCE requirements, such tests could improve individualised injury prevention and increase athlete health. More generally, limitations of science are discussed in the identification of talent and in the understanding of complex human performance phenotypes. An alternative approach to talent identification is proposed in terms of ethically sensitive, systematic and evidence-based holistic observation over time of relevant phenotypical traits by experienced observers. Talent identification in sport should be based on the primacy of the phenotype.

• Andersen, Wivi & Loland, Sigmund (2015). Sport and the obligation of solidarity. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. ISSN 1751-1321. 9(3), p. 243–256. doi: 10.1080/17511321.2015.1065432. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The paper departs from an analysis of the case of Michelle Dumaresq, a transgender female downhill mountain biker who experienced marginalization within her sport. The analysis is based on Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition. The Dumaresq case is particularly relevant to Honneth’s ideas of solidarity, which provide insight into the dynamics of social integration. Honneth’s theory of recognition also provides a conceptual framework and a methodology that gives new perspectives on the ethical significance of sport. In the paper, an analysis is presented of the lack of solidarity experienced by Dumaresq. The argument is made that sport has a particular potential for realizing solidarity among its practitioners. Realizing solidarity however depends to a large degree upon that the rules of sport are perceived as fair and just. In the Dumaresq case, challenges to solidarity came from what her competitors considered to be unfair classification rules. Summing up, it is argued that, as long as the rules of a sport is perceived as fair and just, voluntary engagement gives rise not only to obligations on fair play but to a moral obligation on solidarity as well.

• Loland, Sigmund (2015). Performance-enhancing biomedical technology in sport : where are the limits? In Møller, Verner; Waddington, Ivan & Hoberman, John (Ed.), Routledge handbook of drugs and sport. Routledge. ISSN 9780415702782. p. 54–63. doi: 10.4324/9780203795347-6. Full text in Research Archive
• Ommundsen, Yngvar; Løndal, Knut & Loland, Sigmund (2014). Sport, children, and well-being. In Ben-Arieh, Asher; Casas, Ferran; Frønes, Ivar & Korbin, Jill E. (Ed.), Handbook of child well-being : theories, methods and policies in global perspective. Springer. ISSN 9789048190621. p. 911–940. doi: 10.1007/978-90-481-9063-8_148. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2014). The Youth Olympic Games and the Olympic ideal. In Hanstad, Dag Vidar; Parent, Milena & Houlihan, Barrie (Ed.), The Youth Olympic Games. Routledge. ISSN 9780415839877. p. 19–33. doi: 10.4324/9780203794944-2. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2014). Fairness and justice in sport. In Torres, Cesar R. (Eds.), The Bloomsbury companion to the philosophy of sport. Bloomsbury Academic. ISSN 9781408182574. p. 98–114. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2013). Sport Sciences and ECSS: Approaches and Challenges. apunts: Educación Física y Deportes. ISSN 1577-4015. p. 7–14. doi: 10.5672/apunts.2014-0983.es.(2013/1).111.00. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund & Hoppeler, Hans (2012). Justifying anti-doping: The fair opportunity principle and the biology of performance enhancement. European Journal of Sport Science (EJSS). ISSN 1746-1391. 12(4), p. 347–353. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2011.566374. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Doping is a complex moral and scientific dilemma and its prevention has led to a costly but less than perfect control system implemented worldwide by the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA). For a substance or method to be considered for the WADA Prohibited List, three criteria must be met: (1) the substance or method has the potential to enhance, or enhances, sport performance; (2) use of the substance or method represents an actual or potential health risk to the athlete; and (3) use of the substance or method violates the “spirit of sport”. The “spirit of sport” is defined as “the celebration of the human spirit, body and mind” and explained with reference to a series of ideal values: ethics, fair play, and honesty; health; excellence in performance; character and education; fun and enjoyment; teamwork; dedication and commitment; respect for rules and laws; respect for self and other participants; courage; community and solidarity. These values do not lend themselves to clear-cut interpretation and are of little help in drawing unambiguous lines in concrete cases. A proposal is made of how to interpret the “spirit of sport” in more precise ways in terms of a combination of the fair opportunity principle and a biological and evolutionary understanding of athletic performance as a result of the systematic utilization of the phenotypic plasticity of the human organism. The argument is that such understanding improves significantly the possibilities for drawing of lines when it comes to doping issues.

• Loland, Sigmund (2012). A well balanced life based on 'the joy of effort': olympic hype or a meaningful ideal? Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. ISSN 1751-1321. 6(2), p. 155–165. doi: 10.1080/17511321.2012.666990. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  A key goal in the Olympic value system of Olympism is the all-round cultivation of the individual. According to its so-called ‘fundamental principles’, Olympism is a ‘philosophy of life’ with ideals of ‘exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will, and mind’ and creating ‘a way of life based on the joy of effort’. These goals are to be reached by blending sport with culture and education. Olympism is often criticised for idealism and lack of impact in real life. At the same time Olympic ideals are intuitively appealing and have rhetorical force. The Olympic athlete stands at the very centre of the ideology. This paper examines the possibility of critical examination of Olympic ideals in terms of three different understandings of the athlete. A dualist understanding sees the athlete as divided between body and mind and with the body as a means towards the cultivation of the mind. Within this understanding Olympic ideals make little sense. A phenomenological approach attempts to overcome a dualist scheme with an understanding of the athlete as ‘embodied intentionality’. This seems fertile in an examination of Olympic ideals but can be criticised for lack of contextual sensitivity. A third perspective points towards the athlete as a social construction who can be fully understood only by examining the more extensive socio-cultural context of which the athlete is a part. The contextual understanding adds critical force to Olympic analyses but seems to lack conceptual tools to examine the vision of athletes as responsible moral agents. In conclusion the complementary functions of the three perspectives are emphasised for a proper study of Olympic ideals.

• Loland, Sigmund (2011). Genetics and ethics in elite sport. In Bouchard, Claude & Hoffman, Eric P. (Ed.), Genetic and molecular aspects of sport performance. Wiley-Blackwell. ISSN 9781444334456. p. 353–361. doi: 10.1002/9781444327335.ch30. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2011). The good coach as an enlightened generalist. In Hardman, Alun R. & Jones, Carwyn (Ed.), The Ethics of sports coaching. Routledge. ISSN 9780415557740. p. 15–22. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2011). Can a ban on doping in sport be morally justified? In Savulescu, Julian; Meulen, Ruud ter & Kahane, Guy (Ed.), Enhancing human capacities. Wiley-Blackwell. ISSN 9781405195812. p. 326–331. doi: 10.1002/9781444393552.ch24. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2010). Biomedisinsk teknologi i idrett : hvor går grensene? Etikk i praksis. ISSN 1890-3991. 4(1), p. 87–100. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  I denne artikkelen drøfter jeg bruk av biomedisinsk teknologi i prestasjonsfremmende hensikt i konkurranseidrett. Mer presist utforsker jeg mulighetene for å skille mellom etisk akseptabel og etisk uakseptabel bruk. Jeg kritiserer WADAs normative grunnlag for å forby visse biomedisinske midler og metoder, og argumenterer for at eventuelle forbud må bygge på tydeligere verdisyn på idrett. Jeg undersøker to idealtypiske syn og deres teknologiske implikasjoner. Det smale synet er liberalt og avviser begrensninger i bruk av biomedisinske midler og metoder blant voksne idrettsutøvere som dårlig begrunnet paternalisme. Det brede synet innebærer en mer restriktiv holdning og aksepterer en viss regulering av trening og prestasjonsutvikling også utenfor konkurransene. I en avsluttende del veier jeg det smale og det brede synet mot hverandre og reflekterer over hvilket syn som vil dominere framtidens idrett.

• Loland, Sigmund (2010). Coubertin's ideology of olympism from the perspective of the history of ideas, Rethinking the Olympics : cultural histories of the modern games. Fitness Information Technology. ISSN 9781935412052. p. 63–94. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2010). Fairness in sport : an ideal and its consequences, The Ethics of sports : a reader / edited by Mike McNamee. Routledge. ISSN 9780415478618. p. 116–124. Full text in Research Archive
• Hanstad, Dag Vidar; Skille, Eivind Å. & Loland, Sigmund (2010). Harmonization of anti-doping work : myth or reality? Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics. ISSN 1743-0437. 13(3), p. 418–430. doi: 10.1080/17430431003588036. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In order to examine the implementation of the World Anti Doping Agency's (WADA) policy of global harmonization of anti-doping work, a survey was conducted among the members of the Association of National Anti-Doping Organizations (ANADO). It was revealed that in many countries, the Code was not implemented in accordance with the prescribed policy, with regard to (i) the requirement on national anti-doping organizations (NADOs) having a registered testing pool, (ii) the requirements of availability for testing of the athletes, and (iii) the requirements on sanctions. Only 23 of the 32 NADOs in the sample had a registered testing pool, only 11 NADOs required availability for testing every day, and one in five NADOs did not have any procedures for dealing with athletes who had not provided information about their whereabouts. Further, two in five did not count an incomplete test as a missed test, although this is WADA's definition. WADA's goal is harmonized anti-doping work. The implementation of anti-doping policy is challenging and is to a certain extent underpinned by processes of globalization. Even among NADOs that are considered to be among the global frontrunners in the struggle against doping significant variations exist. There is reason to believe that the global picture is even more diverse. One of WADA's key challenges is to define clearly and in operational terms which rules and sanctions are to be uniform and globally implemented, and which regulations can be open to interpretation depending on economic and socio-cultural contexts.

• Eichberg, Henning & Loland, Sigmund (2010). Nordic sports - from social movements via emotional to bodily movement - and back again? Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics. ISSN 1743-0437. 13(4), p. 676–690. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  When talking about bodily movement, emotional movement and social movements, one applies the same term, 'movement', to very different practical, psychological and social relations. This is not accidental. This essay inquires into the connections between these three dimensions, via an analysis of sports in the Nordic countries. In relation to social movements, Nordic sports developed historically from dynamic popular movements. The cases of Denmark, Sweden and Norway reveal very different relations between sports movements (often gymnastic movements) on the one hand and national, political and social movements on the other. In relation to emotional movement, three different ways of identity building can be identified. While elite sport favours competitive identities and oppositional patterns, mass sport stresses social discipline and fitness, and popular festivities and games give rise to emotions of encounter. The third dimension, bodily movement, is examined in a phenomenological, experiential sense. The essay concludes with some questions about how the different dimensions of movement interact.

• Eichberg, Henning & Loland, Sigmund (2009). Sport and popular movements : towards a philosophy of moving people. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. ISSN 1751-1321. 3(2), p. 121–138. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2009). The Ethics of Performance-Enhancing Technology in Sport. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. ISSN 0094-8705. 36(2), p. 152–161. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Debates on sport technologies tend to engage. Sometimes they have a unifying effect. As is evident from the 1999 establishment of the World Antidoping Agency (WADA), there is a relatively strong consensus that the use of performance-enhancing drugs, or doping, should be banned in sport. Sometimes technology causes controversies. New movement techniques, such as the so-called flop in height jumping developed by Dick Fosbury in the mid 1960s, or the V-style in ski jumping introduced by Jan Bokløv in the late 1980s, led to heated debate on the aesthetics and meaning of the sports in question. Innovative equipment such as body suits in swimming designed to reduce water friction, or shorter alpine skis with radically improved carving capabilities, are sometimes considered to challenge traditional athletic skills. Critics argue that these new means ¿technologize¿ sport. In the most serious cases, such as with potentially performance-enhancing genetic technologies, new means are seen to threaten the very idea of athletic performance as we know it (15,19). In this essay I attempt to deal with value questions linked to sport technology in a philosophically informed way.2 More specifically, I will present a normative framework within which to reason systematically about where to draw the line between valuable, acceptable, and nonacceptable technologies in sport. First, sport technology is defined and a tentative categorization of sport technologies is proposed. Secondly, three ideal-typical normative views and their implications for technology are discussed. I conclude by pointing at one particular normative view as the more promising one in this respect.

• Hanstad, Dag Vidar & Loland, Sigmund (2009). Elite athletes' duty to provide information on their whereabouts: Justifiable anti-doping work or an indefensible surveillance regime? European Journal of Sport Science (EJSS). ISSN 1746-1391. 9(1), p. 3–10. doi: 10.1080/17461390802594219. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this article, we explain and reflect critically upon the athlete whereabouts reporting system in top-level sports initiated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). This system makes it compulsory for athletes who are in a registered testing pool in their national and/or international federation to submit information about their whereabouts. In this way, athletes are required to be available for a no advance notice doping test throughout the year. If an athlete provides incorrect information or cannot be found when a no advance notice test is supposed to be taken (a missed test), he or she may be given a warning. In most sports and national anti-doping regulations, three such warnings within 18 months may be regarded as a violation of the doping regulations and may lead to exclusion from sport for between 3 months and 2 years. The system is controversial. In this article, we examine the key objections to the system and, more specifically, objections connected to ideas of justice and athletes' autonomy and right to self-determination. The argument will be a practical ethical one informed by a survey on attitudes towards the whereabouts system carried out among 236 athletes belonging to the registered testing pool in Norway. We conclude that if the basic principles of anti-doping work are accepted, WADA's whereabouts reporting system represents nothing other than an efficient extension of this work.

• Loland, Sigmund (2009). Rytme : meningen med alpint. In Neumann, Iver Brynild & Steen-Johnsen, Kari (Ed.), Meningen med idretten. Unipub forlag. ISSN 9788274774483. p. 161–176. Full text in Research Archive
• Hanstad, Dag Vidar & Loland, Sigmund (2009). Where on earth is Michael Rasmussen? : is an elite level athlete's duty to provide information on whereabouts justifiable anti-doping work or an indefensible surveillance regime? In Møller, Verner; McNamee, Mike & Dimeo, Paul (Ed.), Elite sport, doping and public health / edited by Verner Møller, Mike McNamee, Paul, Dimeo. Syddansk Universitetsforlag. ISSN 9788776744106. p. 167–177. Full text in Research Archive
• Hanstad, Dag Vidar & Loland, Sigmund (2009). Jagten på Michael Rasmussen : eliteatleter og deres afrapportering af whereabouts. In Christiansen, Ask Vest (Eds.), Kontrolsport : big brother blandt atleter og tilskuere. Syddansk Universitetsforlag. p. 21–34. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund & Selliaas, Andreas (2009). The olympic truce : the ideal and the reality. In Georgiadis, Konstantinos & Syrigos, Angelos (Ed.), Olympic Truce : sport as a platform for peace / edited by Konstantinos Georgiadis, Angelos Syrigos. The International Olympic Truce Centre. p. 57–69. Full text in Research Archive
• Breivik, Gunnar; Hanstad, Dag Vidar & Loland, Sigmund (2009). Attitudes towards use of performance-enhancing substances and body modification techniques : a comparison between elite athletes and the general population. Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics. ISSN 1743-0437. 12(6), p. 737–754. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Medical and technological developments open up new possibilities for modifying the body and enhancing performance in various areas of life. This study compares attitudes among Norwegian elite athletes (n = 234) with attitudes in the general population (n = 428). Whereas vitamins, nutritional supplements and hypoxic rooms were accepted by more than 65% of both athletes and population the rejection of EPO, anabolic steroids and amphetamines were similarly clear in both groups. The athletes were in general more reluctant to use performance enhancement means and body modification techniques than the general population. A significantly higher percentage of the population than the athletes accepted a) means to avoid memory failure in old age (61.6 versus 43.2, sig. 0.000), b) means to avoid decrease in physical fitness among old people (48.6 versus 34.7, sig. 0.005), c) liposuction (30.1 versus 12.4, sig. 0.000), d) surgery for obesity (15.3 versus 9.4, sig. 0.035), e) silicon implants (9.9 versus 5.1, sig. 0.001). The athletes were significantly more satisfied with their bodies than the population (sig. 0.000). Males were more positive about the use of performance enhancement means, whereas females were more positive about body modification techniques. Males were significantly more positive about the use of a) means that increase strength and endurance (sig. 0.002, and b) means that increase sexual performance (sig 0.000). Females were significantly more positive than males about the use of liposuction (sig. 0.000), plastic surgery on the face (sig. 0.013), surgery to combat obesity (sig. 0.000) and silicon implants (sig. 0.000).

• Loland, Sigmund (2008). Hvordan kan vi forstå bevegelse? In Säfvenbom, Reidar & Sookermany, Anders McD (Ed.), Kropp, bevegelse og energi : i den grunnleggende soldatutdanningen. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215012445. p. 46–54. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund & Caplan, Arthur (2008). Ethics of technologically constructed hypoxic environments in sport. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. ISSN 0905-7188. 18(S1), p. 70–75. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2008.00834.x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  With the use of technologically constructed hypoxic environments (TCHE) in soccer as our case, we propose four check points from which to evaluate new performance-enhancing technologies in sport. These are (I) Is the technology beneficial, (II) Is it safe, (III) Can fairness be assured, and (IV) Is the technology in line with the spirit of or rationale for sport? The use of TCHE is ambiguous. On the one hand, in situations with grave inequalities between teams due to lack of acclimatization of one team, TCHE can be an efficient means to even the playing field and out of concern for athlete welfare and health. On the other hand, if used as a pure performance-enhancing means to enhance the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood independent of altitude, it belongs to a category of expert-assisted performance enhancement that may challenge athletic autonomy and the responsibility for one's own performance and, hence, the spirit of sport.

• Loland, Sigmund (2008). Alpine skiing technique - practical kowledge and scientific analysis. In Müller, Erich; Lindinger, Stefan & Stöggl, Thomas (Ed.), Science and Skiing IV. Meyer & Meyer Sport. p. 43–58. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund & Murray, T.H. (2007). The ethics of the use of technologically constructed high-altitude environments to enhance performances in sport [editorial]. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. ISSN 0905-7188. 17(3), p. 193–195. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2007). Outline of a phenomenology of snowboarding, Philosophy, risk and adventure sports / edited by Mike McNamee. Routledge. p. 106–117. Full text in Research Archive
• Gilberg, Runar; Breivik, Gunnar & Loland, Sigmund (2007). Anti-doping in sport : the Norwegian perspective, Doping in sport : global ethical issues / edited by Angela J. Schneider and Fan Hang. Routledge. p. 158–177. Full text in Research Archive
• Hanstad, Dag Vidar & Loland, Sigmund (2007). Meldeplikt for toppidrettsutøvere: forsvarlig antidopingarbeid eller uforsvarlig overvåkning? Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift (NNT). ISSN 0800-336X. 24(3), p. 314–322. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Dopingkampen hardner til. Antidopingorganisasjonene er stadig på jakt etter mer effektive tester og testregimer. Også overvåkningen av topputøvere blir tettere og mer effektiv. I 2003 innførte World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) et nytt meldepliktsystem som pålegger topputøvere i prioriterte grupper å foreta innmeldinger om oppholdssted, deriblant hjemmeadresse, treningssted/tid, treningsleirer og øvrige reiseplaner. Målet er at alle utøvere skal være tilgjengelige for uanmeldt testing året rundt. WADA mener systemet vil virke avskrekkende og regner også med å kunne ta flere dopingsyndere. Men meldeplikten er kontroversiell av flere grunner. Den framstår som en praktisk utfordring for mange utøvere, og den reiser prinsipielle spørsmål omkring personvern og enkeltutøverens autonomi og rett til selvbestemmelse. I dette essayet skal vi beskrive meldepliktsystemet nærmere, gjengi noen resultater fra en kartlegging av holdninger blant norske toppidrettsutøvere og drøfte om systemet kan forsvares på prinsipielt grunnlag.

• Loland, Sigmund (2007). Justice in sport : an ideal and its interpretations. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. ISSN 1751-1321. 1(1), p. 78–95. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  An attempt is made to articulate what is seen as a ¿thin¿ interpretation of justice in sport and how this is understood in terms of ¿thick¿ interpretations in various sociocultural settings. In this way, it is argued, sport can be better understood as a dynamic social practice. First, a thin interpretation of justice is formulated. Sport¿s structural goal is to measure, compare and rank competitors according to their performances. The rule systems of sport are based on more general norms that describe how this goal can be reached in reliable and valid ways. A thin interpretation consists of norms for equal opportunity to perform and meritocratic norms that describe what inequalities are to be measured in sport and how they are to be rewarded. Secondly, various socio-cultural understandings of the thin interpretation are discussed. Five idealtypical thick interpretations are given: the purist, the cynic, the rationalist, the supporter and the consumer. These positions represent different and to a certain extent contradictory interpretations of the thin justice scheme. Some positions even seem to reject it. This scheme indicates potentially radical changes in sport as we know it.

• Waddington, Ivan; Loland, Sigmund & Skirstad, Berit (2006). Introduction. Pain and injury in sport, Pain and injury in sport : social and ethical analysis. Routledge. p. 1–13. Full text in Research Archive
• Gilberg, Runar; Breivik, Gunnar & Loland, Sigmund (2006). Anti-doping in sport : the Norwegian perspective. Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics. ISSN 1743-0437. 9(2), p. 334–353. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In recent years, the Norwegian approach to doping has focused on prevention. This essay attempts to examine and describe the ethical justification of the Norwegian anti-doping work and determine whether recent anti-doping work has been successful in educating Norwegian athletes. Also examined are the reasons that motivate athletes to use doping and the direction that Norwegian sport has taken over the past 15 years to prevent doping in sport. Norway considers itself a leader in working on both elite athletes' and the general public's attitudes toward doping in sport, fair play and cheating. This essay tentatively concludes that the anti-doping information is making an impact among its audience and significantly affecting the majority of elite athletes' attitudes toward doping.

• Loland, Sigmund; Skirstad, Berit & Waddington, Ivan (2006). Three approaches to the study of pain in sport, Pain and injury in sport : social and ethical analysis. Routledge. p. 49–62. Full text in Research Archive
• Goksøyr, Matti; Loland, Sigmund; Skirstad, Berit & Waddington, Ivan (2006). Pains and strains on the ice : some thoughts on the physical and mental struggles of polar adventurers, Pain and injury in sport : social and ethical analysis. Routledge. p. 76–88. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2006). Olympismen : Coubertin, idealene og realitetene, Olympiske vinterleker 1924-2006. Akilles forlag. p. 6–25. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2006). Olympic sport and the ideal of sustainable development. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. ISSN 0094-8705. 33(2), p. 144–156. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2006). Morality, medicine, and meaning: Toward an integrated justification of physical education. Quest (National Association for Physical Education in Higher Education). ISSN 0033-6297. 58(1), p. 60–70. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  What are the values of physical education (PE)? What is its meaning and possible significance to the individual and society? Should PE be part of a standard curriculum in the education of the young? If so, why? These questions are calls for a justification of PE, which is a socio-cultural construction created by people for people and on the basis of particular human goals and values. Reflection over such views is the topic of this paper. More specifically, the paper presents a critical review of what can be considered three ideal-typical justifications of PE: the justifications from morality, health, and meaning. In a final section, a proposal is made for an integrated justification restating and relating these justifications into a consistent whole.

• Waddington, Ivan; Loland, Sigmund & Skirstad, Berit (2006). Ethical problems in the medical management of sport injuries : a case study of English professional football, Pain and injury in sport : social and ethical analysis. Routledge. p. 182–199. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2005). The varieties of cheating - comments on ethical analyses in sport. ?. 8(1), p. 11–26. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2005). The vulnerability thesis and use of bio-medical technology in sport, Genetic technology and sport : ethical questions. Routledge. p. 158–164. Full text in Research Archive

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• Loland, Sigmund & Sæle, Ove Olsen (2025). Å løpe en risiko: Etiske refleksjoner om å lede praksis i kroppsøving, idrett og friluftsliv. Fagbokforlaget. ISBN 9788245047844. 382 p. doi: 10.55669/oa6107. 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.

• Loland, Sigmund (2022). Idrett og samfunn. Gyldendal Norsk Forlag A/S. ISBN 9788205563919. 304 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2015). Idrettsetikk. Akilles forlag. ISBN 9788272862502. 134 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2013). Idrett og samfunn. Gyldendal Norsk Forlag A/S. ISBN 9788205436152. 279 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2007). Idrett og samfunn. Gyldendal Undervisning. ISBN 9788205374409. 274 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund; Skirstad, Berit & Waddington, Ivan (2006). Pain and injury in sport : social and ethical analysis. Routledge. ISBN 9780415357043. 288 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund; Skirstad, Berit & Waddington, Ivan (2006). Pain and Injury in Sport: Social and Ethical analysis. Routledge. 268 p. Full text in Research Archive

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• Sandbakk, Øyvind Bucher & Loland, Sigmund (2025). Records at What Cost? A Critique of the Enhanced Games. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance (IJSPP). ISSN 1555-0265. p. 1–4. doi: 10.1123/ijspp.2025-0470. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Purpose : The recently announced Enhanced Games (EG) positions itself as a revolutionary alternative to the Olympic Games, proposing a sporting event in which performance-enhancing drugs are not only permitted but medically supervised and celebrated. Founded by Dr Aron D’Souza, the initiative markets itself as a more transparent, scientific, and technologically progressive and equitable model of elite sport. In contrast to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s long-standing global commitment to banning doping substances, the EG advocates for full transparency and deregulation of enhancement practices, aiming to eliminate what is perceived as hypocrisy in contemporary elite athletics. The purpose of the current commentary is to critically evaluate the medical, societal, ethical, and regulatory consequences of the EG.  Conclusions : We argue that many of the claims made by the advocates of the EG are flawed and the use of scientific rhetoric is often misleading. Moreover, we argue that the EG represents a high-risk social experiment with potentially profound medical, societal, and ethical consequences that abandons the principles that govern current elite sports: respect for athlete autonomy and health, fair competition, and the quest for sporting and human excellence. We point to the need for a renewed commitment to these principles, not their abandonment. Contrary to the EG, strengthening antidoping systems and investing in safe, evidence-based performance support are all viable paths forward. The EG may produce new records but challenge radically the moral relevance and nature of sport.

• Loland, Sigmund (2025). Treningspillen: Hva gjør treneren når farmasien tar over? 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. 63–74. doi: 10.55669/oa610706. 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.

• Sæle, Ove Olsen & Loland, Sigmund (2025). Innledning. 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. doi: 10.55669/oa610700. 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.

• Tjønndal, Anne; Solstad, Tom Erik Jorung & Loland, Sigmund (2024). Idrettsteknologi og KI: hva mister og vinner vi med ny teknologi? [Internet]. Spotify. Full text in Research Archive
• Tjønndal, Anne; Solstad, Tom Erik Jorung & Loland, Sigmund (2024). Raskere, høyere, sterkere: Hva er teknologi og hva er doping? [Internet]. Spotify. Full text in Research Archive
• Hamilton, Blair R.; Martinez-Patiño, Maria Jose; Barrett, James; Seal, Leighton; Tucker, Ross & Papadopoulou, Theodora [Show all 57 contributors for this article] (2021). Response to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Report on Race and Gender Discrimination in Sport: An Expression of Concern and a Call to Prioritise Research. Sports Medicine. ISSN 0112-1642. 51(4), p. 839–842. doi: 10.1007/s40279-020-01380-y. Full text in Research Archive
• Houlihan, Barrie; Hanstad, Dag Vidar; Loland, Sigmund & Waddington, Ivan (2019). The World Anti-Doping Agency at 20: Progress and challenges. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. ISSN 1940-6940. 11(2), p. 193–201. doi: 10.1080/19406940.2019.1617765. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was established in 1999 in an atmosphere that combined frustration with the lack of leadership on anti-doping provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and optimism that at long last clean athletes would have protection from corrupt sports organisations, athletes, coaches and medical staff. If the optimism outweighed the frustration it was short lived as it soon became clear that the tangle of competing interests (political, commercial, legal and organisational) that had stymied the development of a harmonised policy towards doping over the previous 20 years or so had not disappeared but was simply adapting to the characteristics of the anti-doping policy regime that had WADA at its heart.

• Pitsiladis, Yannis P.; Howman, David; Ladikas, Miltos; Loland, Sigmund; McNamee, Michael John & Petróczi, Andrea [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2019). The Olympia Declaration. Current sports medicine reports. ISSN 1537-890X. 18(12), p. 448–451. doi: 10.1249/JSR.0000000000000660. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2018). Response to Open Peer Commentaries on “Performance-Enhancing Drugs, Sport, and the Ideal of Natural Athletic Performance”. American Journal of Bioethics. ISSN 1526-5161. 18(7), p. w1–w3. doi: 10.1080/15265161.2018.1474963. Full text in Research Archive
• Andrieu, Bernard & Loland, Sigmund (2017). The ecology of sport: From the practice of body ecology to emersed leisure. Loisir et Société. ISSN 0705-3436. 40(1), p. 1–6. doi: 10.1080/07053436.2017.1282200. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund & McNamee, Michael (2014). Philosophy of Sport. In Maguire, Joseph (Eds.), Social Sciences in Sport. Human Kinetics. ISSN 9780736089586. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2014). Idrott och etik : en introduktion. In Dartsch, Christine; Norberg, Johan R. & Pihlblad, Johan (Ed.), I gråzonen : en antologi om idrottens etiska utmaningar. Centrum för idrottsforskning. ISSN 9789198183313. p. 7–21. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2011). Fortjener toppidretten statlig støtte? In Hanstad, Dag Vidar; Breivik, Gunnar; Sisjord, Mari Kristin & Skaset, Hans B. (Ed.), Norsk Idrett - Indre spenning og ytre press. Akilles forlag. ISSN 9788272862281. p. 111–122. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2009). kampfiksing : fotballens skyggeside. Idrettsanlegg. ISSN 0802-3026. 22(1), p. 54–54. Full text in Research Archive
• Haanes, Vidar L.; Haanes, Vidar L.; Ellefsen, Karl Otto; Haaland, Jan I. & Loland, Sigmund (2008). Sammenslåing hjelper ikke. p. 12–12. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2008). Mot en ny bevegelseskultur? Idrettsanlegg. ISSN 0802-3026. 21(3), p. 14–14. Full text in Research Archive
• Hanstad, Dag Vidar & Loland, Sigmund (2008). Athlete Whereabouts Information, Similarities and Differences in Interpretation and Implementation within NADOs. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2008). Mot en ny bevegelseskultur? Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2008). Citius, altius, fortius? Moral and immoral interpretations of athletic performance. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2008). Three paradigms of elite sport. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2008). Catching up with the winners in the genetic lottery? Fair opportunity in sport. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2008). The values of a physically active life in a high-technological society. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2007). Technological challenges to sport. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2007). A philosophical justification of the physically active life. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2007). The vulnerability thesis and its consequences for doping in sport. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2007). A philosophical justification of the physically active life. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2007). The mechanics and meaning of alpine skiing - epistemological notes. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2007). Pain in sport - three approaches. Full text in Research Archive
• Hanstad, Dag Vidar & Loland, Sigmund (2007). Where on earth is Michael Rasmussen? The importance of whereabout rules. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2007). Morality, medicine and meaning - towards an integrated justification of physical activity. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2007). Ethics of the use of artificial hypoxia by athletes. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2007). Kroppsøving som dannelsesfag. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2007). Doping - the ethical challenge. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2007). Kroppssyn og fysisk aktivitet. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Foredraget tematiserer ulike syn på kropp og bevegelse og vurderer muligheter og begrensninger i de ulike syn.

• Loland, Sigmund (2007). Idrett og teknologi. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Foredraget tematiserer teknologiske utfordringer i idrett

• Loland, Sigmund (2006). Technological challenges to sport. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2006). The challenges of genetic modification to sport: a philosophical view. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2006). IOC, pengene og idealene. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2006). Morality, medicine and meaning-toward an integrated justification of sport. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2006). Technology in sport - ethical challenges and possible solutions. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2006). Technological challenges to sport. A case study in sport ethics. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2006). Moral, medisin og mening - om legitimering av fysisk aktivitet. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2006). Ethical issues related to doping. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2006). Opbygningen af det etiske kodeks. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2006). Fascinasjonen for fotball. p. 25–25. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2005). Can worldvide testing be effective? Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2005). Understandings of pain in sport: Epistemological perspectives. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2005). Is sex classification in sport unfair? Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2005). Jeg trener, altså er jeg. Om treningsvaner og kroppsbilde hos. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2005). Hvorfor skal barn være i bevegelse? - legitimering av barns fysisk aktivitet. Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund (2005). Is sex classification in sport unfair? Full text in Research Archive
• Loland, Sigmund; Bø, Kari; Fasting, Kari; Hallén, Jostein; Ommundsen, Yngvar & Roberts, Glyn [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2009). Book of Abstracts of the 14th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science, 24-27 June. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Introduction: An increased risk for drowning is seen in males, particularly since they may overestimate their abilities, compared to women. Moran (2008) has found gender differences in New Zealand, particularly that men overestimate their ability and women underestimate their ability. The purpose of this study was to investigate the gender differences of practical swimming skills and self reported perception of swimming competence. Methods: Eighty one (81) university students were asked to fill out a questionnaire and also to perform practical tests of their swimming competence. The questions addressed their perceived competence (in a pool), their perception of whether they could perform as well outdoors in open water, and their perception of risk in five risk scenarios. The practical tests covered seven essential skills. The Mann ? Whitney U test was employed to examine statistical differences. A 0.05 level of confidence was accepted as significant. Results and Discussion: Of the seven practical tests, four showed a significant gender difference: floating ability, entry dive from pool deck, surface dive to 2m depth, and rescue towing. In every case, the women performed better than the men. Self reported perception of competence showed significant gender differences for only three of 21 items. The women reported greater competence than the men for ?the ability to stay afloat in deep water without support?, while the men reported greater competence for ?surface dive to the bottom of the deep end of the pool (4m). Eighty percent of the men reported that surface diving would be easy/very easy, while only 62% of the women reported the same. Interestingly, the women both reported greater competence and actually demonstrated greater competence than the men on the floating test. On the other hand, while the women actually performed better on surface diving, the men reported the perception that they were more competent in this skill. Lastly, there were no significant gender differences in perceived risk for the five risk scenarios. Conclusions It can be concluded that there are few gender differences both in practical and perceived ability in Norway. It does not support the hypothesis that a possible gender difference makes males more susceptible for drowning. References Moran, K. (2008). Will they sink or swim? New Zealand youth water safety knowledge and skills. Int. Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, 2(2), 114-127

• Loland, Sigmund; Bø, Kari; Fasting, Kari; Hallén, Jostein; Ommundsen, Yngvar & Roberts, Glyn [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2009). 14th annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science. The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Autobiographies of prominent environmentalists show that their early lives have been rich in personal experiences of nature. Notably, the early childhood experiences of philosopher and climber Arne Næss (1912-2009) inspired the development of the philosophy of deep ecology, which influenced the emergence of friluftsliv ¿ literarily free-air life - as environmental pedagogy in the 1970s. As a subject friluftsliv was though underpinned by the notion of identification with nature, and this empathy was intended to induce people to act protectively towards nature, not because ¿they think they ought to but because they feel inclined to¿. This article contributes to the understanding of complex, empathetic relationships to nature by analyzing the significance of nature and friluftsliv in the life-worlds of young Norwegians. In 2001 and 2006 nearly 200 youths aged 15 to 19, living in the sub-Arctic, a suburb of Oslo, and a southern seaside holiday site, wrote essays on their experiences of ¿nature¿. The question was an open one but stimulated a biographical approach. The youth emphasize intimate experiences of ¿the nature¿ from early childhood; connected to playing freely in neighborhoods and hiking with family and friends. They express a love for their native ¿natural worlds¿. Despite the fact that ¿nature means a lot¿ the relations to nature have at the time of writing become distanced. When looking into the future, they often dream of living close to ¿natural areas¿, which is not seen antagonistic to urban lifestyles. If they have children, they want them to grow up with the same freedom to play outside as they themselves have enjoyed. The youth are concerned about litter and reflect on ¿nature¿s life-giving significance¿, often expressed abstractly as something ¿we must of course take care of¿. However, the ways in which the youth are acting towards ¿the nature¿, e.g. activities performed and technology used, represent broad cultural diversity. In this paper, processes of self-formation nurtured by close contact with nature are discussed as naturalized embodied experiences, which have also been informed by stories on how nature should be perceived, treated and nurtured. Theories on the ecological self are critiqued for not taking socio-cultural relations into account. This study indicates that it is interrelationships between ecological processes, socio-cultural relations and transforming selves that underpin young people¿s acting towards and diverse feelings of nurturing for nature.

• Loland, Sigmund; Bø, Kari; Fasting, Kari; Hallén, Jostein; Ommundsen, Yngvar & Roberts, Glyn [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2009). Book of Abstract. Sport Sciences: Nature, Nurture and Culture. 14th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport sciences. Oslo/Norway, June 24-27, 2009. European College of Sport Sceince. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In a political situation where it is stressed that defense planning cannot be carried out based on one specific idea as to what kind of threats might face the armed forces in the future, and it is emphasized that the armed forces must adapt to a complex, unpredictable and rapid threat image, it is still desired to select, recruit and educate "the best soldier". It is therefore relevant to question the types of criteria used as a basis for evaluating the soldier's performance, and how "the best soldier" is to be understood when the task is unknown. This problem area was investigated by exploring two questions and the relation between them: 1. Which criteria form the basis for judging who "the best soldiers" are today? 2. Do the soldiers considered to be "the best" have any similarities in their background experience that may help to explain why they are "best"? The study is based on a hermeneutic-phenomenological interpretation of qualitative material structured and interpreted with the inspiration of Pierre Bourdieu's habitus-, capital- and field theory. The study conclude that "The best soldiers" must be understood as a constructed idea constantly reconstructed in an interaction between historical and cultural structures and the agents' interests and practices. This study can contribute to an expanded and critical understanding of the constructions that are made. It also has demonstrated that Bourdieus models represent a suitable tool for analyzing soldiers in a military field for future research.

• Loland, Sigmund; Bø, Kari; Fasting, Kari; Hallén, Jostein; Ommundsen, Yngvar & Roberts, Glyn [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2009). Book of Abstract. Sport Sciences: Nature, Nurture and Culture. 14th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science. ECSS/Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Since the establishment of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 1999 the number of actors involved in anti-doping activity has increased and the credibility of testing has improved. The aim of this paper is to (i) analyze how the different units have become increasingly interconnected, and (ii) present some suggestions to redistribute tasks between the actors. The role of international federations (IFs) will be emphasized.

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