‘Third era’ parasport athletes and athlete ‘volunteer’ appearances (AVAs): a relational analysis

In the ‘third era’ of Paralympic sport (Howe, 2008), there has been a discernable shift in focus towards high performance outcomes, fuelled by dramatic increases in funding and medal expectations. With these increases there have been significant implications for the lived experiences of Parasport eligible disabled athletes. This shift has facilitated more freedom and allayed some of the concerns/energies required to facilitate dual-career activities and in turn, allowed for greater commitment to their Parasport careers. However, as this paper will explore, there are other aspects of Paralympic athletes’ lives influenced by this development that remain under explored–including the fact that classifiably eligible disabled athletes are required, as are their able bodied peers, to contribute to schemes where their role as a visible asset is harnessed in the form of athlete ‘volunteer’ appearances (AVAs). In response, this paper draws upon the relational theorising of Crossley (2011) to analyse data from a multiple case study approach in order to consider the implications of an array of athlete ‘volunteer’ appearances (AVAs) performed by nine Paralympic athletes across a range of sports.