Since the dawn of modern sport, Swedish athletes and leaders have made a significant impact in the global sport community, and Swedish scientists and entrepreneurs have contributed to the development of coaching and training. But when it comes to football, Sweden has rather taken influence from others. Two names contradict this relative anonymity – Sven-Göran Eriksson and Pia Sundhage. They both have had long and successful careers which have brought Swedish coaching ideals to an international audience. The purpose of this study is to investigate how their respective coaching philosophies have developed over time and how they have been shaped by education, previous experiences, and influences in the coaches’ own lives. The developments of Eriksson’s and Sundhage’s coaching philosophies are analysed through the lens of theories about scientisation, specialisation and professionalisation. We build on their own publications, as well as interviews and archival sources.

Since the introduction of a national system for upper-secondary sport schools in Sweden in the 1970s, these institutions have been an important environment for developments in training and coaching. This is particularly true for cross-country skiing, where these schools quickly became an obligatory passage point. Coaches at the sport schools, often formally employed as PE teachers, were among the first professionalized endurance sport coaches in Sweden. This article examines how communities of practice have influenced the professionalization process of XC ski coaches at Swedish sport schools. The results show how being part of this community is conditioned on personal experience of active learning, historically as a skier yourself and currently as a coach who participates in the everyday work. The strong communities of practice have enabled coaches to maintain a high degree of self-­governance and ensured that experiential knowledge remain important in relation to scientific knowledge.

This study investigates two prominent sports tourism events of global significance: the Swedish Vasaloppet and the Norwegian Birkebeineren. Originally rooted in historical skiing competitions in Sweden and Norway, these events have evolved into year-round spectacles encompassing skiing, cycling, and running activities. Notably, both events adapted to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing digital strategies aimed at sustaining athlete engagement. In the wake of the pandemic, an exploration of the post-COVID-19 digital landscape reveals intriguing insights into the continued evolution of these events. By scrutinizing materials from the official websites of the respective event organizations and conducting interviews with key representatives, this study seeks to unveil the intricacies of the technological frameworks supporting the virtual dimensions of these renowned sports gatherings. The investigation is framed within a theoretical context that encompasses concepts such as sportification, prosumption, quantified self, and gender. These conceptual lenses are applied to interpret the symbiotic relationship between technological advancements, digitization, and the aforementioned sports-related phenomena. Through an academically rigorous exploration, this study aims to contribute nuanced perspectives to the discourse surrounding the intersection of sports, technology, and event management.

The rapid development of esports over the last two decades has been in some ways a challenge to the established sporting world. However, esports has largely developed according to the sportification model (Guttman, 1978), over time becoming progressively more organised, specialised, standardised, regimented, and rationalised. Competitive computer gaming is today following a similar trajectory as other sports have done in the past and has gone from being a leisure activity to becoming a competitive activity with organisations, professional players, and international competitions. This chapter gives a closer look at the ongoing sportification of esports in general and, more specifically, how this process has played out in Sweden. Similarities and differences in the sportification of esports and a more traditional sport - cross-country skiing - will be analysed. How have esports worked with organisation, regimentation, rationalisation, and standardisation? Building upon archival sources, earlier research, and interviews with representatives from Swedish esports organisations will conclude the chapter.

Det blir allt tydligare hur klimatförändringar och andra miljöproblem påverkar idrotten, och det finns en växande medvetenhet om hur idrotten påverkar miljön på negativa sätt. Idrottare lider av att prestera i extrem hetta och vinterevenemang ställs in på grund av brist på snö. Tävlingar flyttas på grund av varmare klimat och hela landskap för träning och tävling hotas av torka, erosion och stigande havsnivåer. Samtidigt har idrottens ekologiska avtryck vuxit i takt med ökat resande, materialanvändning och resursförbrukning i jakten på prestation. Men trots att både idrotten och idrottsforskningen länge har arbetat med social hållbarhet, har frågor om naturskydd och miljö hittills varit lågt prioriterade. I det här kapitlet analyserar vi bristen på miljöperspektiv i de avhandlingar som publicerats inom svensk idrottsforskning, och diskuterar de få men viktiga studier om idrott och miljömässig hållbarhet som trots allt har genomförts.

Do natural conditions and local landscapes still matter in sport? In the balancing between natural and scientific training, Swedish upper-secondary ski schools have played an important role. This paper deals with specific landscape features for testing at three Swedish ski schools: Hallstatestet in Sollefteå, Hovfjällsracet in Torsby, and Stoltjonastestet in Järpen. The following questions are addressed: How do the coaches at each school use local tests to analyze performance? How is the importance of local tests articulated, and what roles do history and nature play in this process? The paper concludes that the use of local landscapes to articulate elite performance connects ideas of measurability and scientization to the lingering tradition of natural training. Local landscapes thereby become a mediator between scientific and experiential knowledge about sport performance and point out how local sport heritage can be used for addressing environmental issues in sport.

In the late 19th century, football entered Sweden's coastal cities, such as Malmö, Halmstad and Gothenburg. The sport grew quickly, and the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) was founded in 1904. In the following decades, the popularity of football increased and in the 1950s it was perceived as the national sport of Sweden. However, at that time the sport was non-professional and in practice only for men. In order to keep up with hardening international competition, SvFF overturned the amateur regulations in 1967. Professionalisation was slow due to the lack of revenue but accelerated for male players after the Bosman ruling in 1995. Women's football developed gradually from the 1960s and in 1972 a national league organised by SvFF was formed. Youth football also grew substantially. Despite the differences in resources football became well-established amongst both men and women. However, the tensions between idealism, voluntarism and inclusion on the one hand, and commercialism, professionalism and selection, on the other hand, remain. This is best exemplified by the 51% rule, which states that clubs must be majority-owned by the members. This is hailed by some as a guarantee for democratic football, while others argue that it restricts clubs’ financial development.

The growth of sports and the increasing levels of participation, performance, and international competition are undeniable. This development has undoubtedly contributed to the tremendous growth of the sports economy during the last 100 years, as well as an impressive increase in results and performance levels in most sports. It is in turn linked to the comprehensive competition logic that drives sportification of performance and practice in predominantly Western sport, rooted in the cultivation of able bodies, and maximum performance. However, as sports have developed in tandem with the global industrial economy it is also facing similar problems. Over the last decade, sport organisations, supporters, athletes, scholars, and others have begun to problematise the consequences of an ever-growing sports economy and the constant strive for increasing performance levels, growing events, and intensified travel. This introduction will present an overview of how the logics of practice guided by performance, and the sportification model, are linked to potentially problematic aspects of sports in relation to the environment. We pose questions about whether sportification and a strong focus on increasing performance can go hand in hand with a sustainable development.

Sport has often had an important role in times of crisis, but the Covid-19 pandemic is another matter. Sport was heavily affected world-wide on all levels. In Sweden, gathering people for endurance events conflicted with the Covid-19 restrictions. Some events were cancelled, but many tried to adapt. What adaptation strategies to Covid-19 have Swedish event organizers used? What role have digital tools played in their adaptation? What economic impacts did these events experience? We argue that the challenges posed by Covid-19 have accelerated the digitization of endurance events and highlighted the tensions between commercial and non-commercial actors in sports due to the differences in financial structure and eligibility for economic support. We thereby contribute to the growing research on how sport events in general have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and specifically in the context of Sweden’s somewhat exceptional response to the pandemic.

This book examines the logic of ‘faster, higher, and stronger’ and the techno-scientific revolution that has driven tremendous growth in the sports economy and in sport performance over the last 100 years. It asks whether this logic needs revisiting in the light of the climate crisis and sport’s environmental responsibilities.Drawing on multi-disciplinary work in sport history, sport pedagogy, sport philosophy, sport science, and environmental history, the book considers not only how sportification may have contributed to the growing environmental impact of sport but also whether it might be used as a tool of positive social change. It reflects on the ways that sport sets performance limits for other ethical reasons, such as doping controls, and asks whether sport could or should set limits for environmental reasons too. Sport, Performance and Sustainability touches on key themes in sport studies, including digitisation, activism, social media, empowerment, youth sport, and physical education.This is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in sport, the environment, development, sociology, or culture.