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.

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.

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.

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.

The environmental impact of sports facilities has received increasing attention over the last decades. However, studies within this area primarily deal with how the actual construction of sports facilities affects the environment. We know far less about how an active presence in sports facilities influences sporting practitioners’ thoughts about their own environmental impact. Therefore, this chapter critically discusses environmental issues connected to sports facilities generally and more specifically in relation to artificial sports facilities. We use several theoretical concepts to discuss the current research with examples taken from the artificial landscapes of cross-country skiing, canoe slalom, and turf-based sports. What makes artificial sports facilities especially interesting from an environmental perspective is the ambiguity they involve. On one hand, the actual constructions involve direct interventions in nature. On the other hand, there is a lack of knowledge about the impact these facilities have on health, environmental awareness, and travel. We argue that future sports facilities will need to stimulate more logic than competition if sport and outdoor recreation is to be environmentally sustainable. The process of sportification, which has prioritised the growth of sport economies and encouraged ever higher performance levels, would need to shift its focus to incorporate environmental concerns.

Environmental sustainability in sport is an increasingly important issue. In this paper, we want to highlight a specific phenomenon, namely artificially constructed landscapes and the outdoor sport activities that take place therein. More specifically, we are interested in the logics that govern peoples’ practice of sport in such artificial landscapes and what challenges with regards to environmental sustainability that follow from these logics. The purpose of this paper is to identify what individual athletes perceive as meaningful logics when practicing sport in artificial landscapes and to analyse and discuss potential environmental consequences of these logics. The sports we focus on are cross-country skiing and canoe slalom, two sports that historically have been dependent on specific geographies and contexts. We build on two research questions: What logics of practice govern individual athletes’ practice of sport in artificial landscapes? And what environmental challenges are potential consequences of the logics that are expressed by the athletes? Our findings indicate that the logic of performance is dominant for the sport practitioners who train in artificial landscapes, at the expense of perspectives such as nature experience and environmental sustainability. If performance is key, then the role of the training landscape is also first and foremost to present the best possible conditions for performance. But if the athlete/exerciser see their training as a means of experiencing nature, then other values than performance and comparability can become more important. When the environmental impact of individual athletes and of the artificial landscapes in which they do their training come under increased scrutiny, the role of logics of practice in the sport and movement culture needs further attention. Being aware of nature and the environment is also a logic that could be found meaningful in the process of making sports more sustainable.

Introduction

According to accumulated data, COVID-19 related restrictions can lead to considerable inactivity and sedentary lifestyles. The Swedish COVID-19 response consisted of guidelines rather than restrictions, which could possibly have a positive impact on activity levels remaining high. To investigate to which extent self-rated physical activity changed during the Swedish COVID-19 response, two cross-sectional surveys (N = 10,560) were conducted. The data constitutes the most comprehensive material on COVID-19 and physical activity extracted from Sweden. The aim is to contribute with new knowledge about general trends in physical activity during the Corona-pandemic in Sweden.

Methods

The method used is based on a quantitative cross-sectional retrospective approach. This approach makes it possible to clearly illustrate how the respondents’ (N = 10,560) answers differ depending on whether the questions referred to physical activity “before COVID-19” or “during COVID-19”. The data was collected on two different occasions (dataset 1 & dataset 2). Both surveys were digital questionnaires. The first dataset was distributed through social media, and The Swedish Research Council for Sport Science, whereas the second survey was distributed via e-mail. Dataset one was collected between 8 April 2020 to 14 august 2020, while dataset two was gathered from 8 December 2021 to 22 January 2021. The analysis included descriptive statistics, t-tests, correlations, and ANOVA. Cohen’s guidelines were used to establish what should be considered small, medium, and large differences.

Results

Overall, the results convey that there are significant differences for many people in everyday exercise performance during COVID-19. The most striking result is that many respondents report the same amount of everyday exercise, however, less physical training, and more sedentariness. Moreover, the result shows that elderly respondents were more affected than younger people, yet younger people reported more increased time sitting down. In terms of gender, although the Cohen guidelines categorize the difference as small, women had higher scores on sedentariness and reduced physical activity. 

Discussion

Both datasets reveal that patterns of physical activity have changed during COVID-19. However, contrary to what some studies conducted in Sweden have argued, within our datasets, differences across gender and age yielded only small differences. This deviates from studies that report that COVID-19 had a substantial negative impact on certain demographic groups. We conclude that respondents report less physical training regardless of demographic specificities. That elderly report less movement aligns with the outcomes of similar large-scale studies conducted in other countries. Finally, we suggest that one reason for differing results could be the use of different definitions when employing questionnaires to gain information on perceived physical activity. 

Efter coronapandemins utbrott införde de flesta europeiska länderna strikta restriktioner, såsom krav på fysisk distansering, munskydd och i vissa fall till och med tillfälliga utegångsförbud. Sverige utgjorde ett undantag genom att införa jämförelsevis mjukare restriktioner, och rekommendationer med större tonvikt på sociala normer och individuellt ansvar. Råd och restriktioner ändrades flera gånger under 2020 och 2021, men generellt sett fanns begränsningar i antalet deltagare, åskådare och funktionärer som fick vistas i gym, arenor och idrottshallar. Medan många idrotts- och utomhusaktiviteter stoppades i andra delar av världen kunde de således fortsätta i Sverige, och till och med uppmuntras under förutsättning att de genomfördes på ett säkert sätt, det vill säga i enlighet med Folkhälsomyndighetens rekommendationer. I det här kapitlet analyseras hur tränare, idrottsutövare, motionärer och publik påverkats av pandemin. Vår studie visar på betydelsen av anpassningsförmåga, kreativa lösningar och digitalisering för att kunna möta komplexa utmaningar och säkerställa tillgången till rörelse och träning för så många som möjligt. Good governance, i betydelsen flexibla, kreativa och motståndskraftiga organisationer, kommer att behövas i en framtid där miljöproblem, pandemier och andra risker blir allt tydligare inslag i idrottens vardag.

Trails and paths are pathways to the past – and serve as a physical and cultural infrastructure of human memory. While they lead the way forward for anyone out walking, they also point backwards, towards history. 

Walking has been a common denominator for human life everywhere, at all times. While other forms of mobility have grown in importance and changed our societies in dramatic ways, most of us still depend on walking in our daily life. The massive number of human steps throughout history has created a rich and widespread network of trails that cross the globe and connect places. It has also resulted in a vast immaterial heritage through literature, art and music about walking. Paths and trails accommodate both the material and the immaterial, and challenge not only conventional heritage management but also the very essence of the nature/culture divide. 

In our current age, the Anthropocene, traces of people’s movements can be regarded as a distinct kind of cultural heritage, a ‘movement heritage’ that is dependent on continuous use or memory work to remain. It also points to historical and current forms of land use that is sustainable in the most basic meaning of the word, i.e. that these activities can be and de facto has been practiced over long periods of time without causing large-scale environmental degradation. Few other forms of human mobility can make similar claims.

So, while traces and remains from different kinds of movement may be small in physical scale, they are monumental in terms of their importance for the understanding of how a landscape has been used historically. Traces of mobility form lines that, with Tim Ingold, tie together the life worlds of the past with those of the present.

Walking tracks, paths, and trails are usually ephemeral and often also neglected traces of humans moving by foot through landscapes in the past and the present. These subtle landscape features seem to be difficult to handle within established heritage management regimes, partly because of their fugitive and timid nature. However, their uses and impacts have often been decisive and important for individuals and communities across spatial and temporal scales.

In this anthology, we explore possibilities to acknowledge human motion, and traces thereof, as heritage. Today, with the increasing interest in local and sustainable connections, and in bodily and spiritual enhancement, we see a growing use of walking tracks both in landscapes within reach from urban centres and in more remotely located or ‘wild’ areas. The corona pandemic has further propelled these trends. Of course, landscapes that are commonly understood as wilderness or ‘nature’ are in most cases clearly influenced by human actions and movements. While walking trails tend to be regarded as pathways to experience nature and as tools to promote public health, they could also be seen and used as routes to culture and history, indeed as pathways to the past. Based on a Swedish research project with the aim to explore the multiple dimensions of walking, paths and movement, this volume discuss the potential effects of such an expansion of the heritage register.

Landscapes of mobility have been shaped by hiking, hunting, outdoor life, tourism, sports, and physical training for centuries. They are historical remains of those activities, while simultaneously being the infrastructure for present-day usages. The demand for places suitable for movement, training and events continue to grow, and hiking trails are a key component in the rise of nature-based tourism, sport events such as trail running and mountain biking, and the increasing interest in outdoor life and hiking. So far, the historical and heritage aspects of these developments have been underarticulated. However, the Norwegian heritage board together with the Norwegian Tourist Association (Den Norske Turistforening, DNT) have initiated a project around historical hiking trails that have been attracting attention over the last couple of years. Similar attempts are now being made in Sweden, England, and elsewhere. There is need for a more explicit discussion about trails as heritage. With this anthology we contribute with precisely that through gathering leading scholars in Europe and beyond around this subject and engaging them in dialogue.

Synen på var och hur träning ska bedrivas har varit ett ämne för upphettaddebatt inom svensk idrott och friluftsliv sedan 1800-talet. En viktig skiljelinjehar gått mellan naturlig respektive vetenskaplig träning. Den förra harinnehållit utomhusträning och traditionella rörelseformer som löpning ochsimning, medan den sistnämnda har lyft värdet av repetition av konstrueraderörelser i standardiserade inomhusmiljöer. En av de första och mestcentrala rösterna i diskussionen var den av historisk forskning sparsamtuppmärksammade men på sin tid betydelsefulle Anton Santesson (1825–1892). Han var utbildad vid Gymnastiska centralinstitutet (GCI) i Stockholm,men gjorde sig impopulär och lämnade lärosätet för en tillvaro somförfattare. Santesson publicerade ett tiotal böcker, varav flera handböckeri gymnastik för läroverken, och intresserade sig bland annat för gymnastikför kvinnor. Med detta var han något av en föregångare, men hans övriga bidrag har inte uppmärksammats, trots att han även i fråga om landskapetsbetydelse för träning och fysisk aktivitet uttryckte idéer som bröt med tidensrådande ideologi.I det här kapitlet vill jag analysera hur Anton Santessons idéer om naturensbetydelse som träningsarena i viss mån bröt med linggymnastikensideologi och hur hans reformförslag kan förstås som en tidig form av friluftslivoch naturlig träning. I linggymnastiken, som var den dominerandeformen av kroppsövning under 1800-talet, var landskapet av begränsad betydelse.Merparten av träningen bedrevs inomhus, i lokaler som kom attsätta standarden för svenska gymnastiksalar under lång tid. Detta föll inteden konfliktsökande Santesson i smaken, utan han avvek från gymnastikensmittfåra genom att förorda utomhusträning, användning av redskapoch fokus på praktiskt användbara färdigheter som simning och skridskorsnarare än exercisliknande övningar

The research output in the field of sport and environment have increased dramatically over the last decade, from something pursued only by a few enthusiasts, to an integral part of both research and education in sport science and sport management. Now, Brian Wilson and Brad Millington contribute with a new anthology as part of Emerald Publishing’s Research in the Sociology of Sport book series: Sport and the Environment: Politics and Preferred Futures. The second part of the title is important as it indicates what sets this book apart from many earlier publications on the topic. 

During the last decades, technologies to monitor, test and analyze athletes’ performance and health have rapidly developed. At present, global positioning systems (GPS), stadium camcorders, heart rate monitors and mobile applications are prominent performance analysis technologies (PATs) used in most elite sport environments. While PATs is understood as an aid, there is a growing body of literature that points to negative consequences. These negative consequences are concerning and call for research and measures to develop strategies for effective and productive implementation. To achieve this, this article first outlines key challenges and problems of PATs, using sport sociological research on coaching and athletes, historical knowledge of the scientization of training and the changing role of the coach, as well as scientific and experiential knowledge of performance analysis. Our findings show that key challenges and problems occur in a chain of six steps that concern the implementing of PATs: 1. Investment in PATs; 2. Production of performance data; 3. Interpretation of performance data; 4. Communication of performance data; 5. Decision-making based on performance data; and 6. Influence of PATs on coaches and athletes. The article then answers these challenges and problems by outlining recommendations for how sport managers and administrators can prevent buying “a pig in a poke” by acquiring competence about performance analysis and PATs, investing time, and developing effective communication between those working with PATs.

How is an elite sports education introduced in a political context like 1970s Sweden, where egalitarian ideas about education and sport for all were the norm and anything hinting at special treatment for talented youths was potentially controversial? This article analyzes the history of how Sweden designed and implemented a nationwide system for elite sport education, and how different actors negotiated the balance between elite sport and education. The Swedish sport schools were initiated in 1972 to solve the issue with the growing importance of elite sport, in parallel with the increasing importance of upper-secondary education. One innovation in these schools was the introduction of a school subject called Special sport. Starting with two schools and 80 students in the early 1970s, there are now more than 50 schools and 1200 students. Since the very beginning, these schools have had a dual mission – produce more and better elite athletes and give sport talents a full education to fall back on should they not become professional athletes. The introduction of sport schools in 1970s Sweden was part of a broader sportification process and has in some sports become the only realistic path toward an elite career.

Can walking trails be understood not only as routes to history and heritage, but also as heritage in and of themselves? The paper explores the articulation of trails as a distinct landscape and mobility heritage, bridging the nature-culture divide and building on physical and intellectual movements over time. The authors aim to contribute to a better understanding of the geography of trails and trailscapes by analysing the emergence of the Swedish-Norwegian trail Finnskogleden. The trail is situated in the border region spanning the former county of Hedmark in present-day Innlandet County, south-eastern Norway, and Värmland County in mid-western Sweden, a forested area where Finnish-speaking immigrants settled from the 16th century to the early 20th century. Archives, literature, interviews, and field visits were used to analyse the emergence and governance of the trail. The main finding is the importance of continuous articulation work by local and regional stakeholders, through texts, maps, maintenance, and mobility. In conclusion, the Finn forest trailscape and its mobility heritage can be seen as an articulation of territory over time, a multilayered process drawing on various environing technologies, making the trail a transformative part of a trans-border political geography.

On 29 June 1958, Sweden played Brazil in the World Cup final in men’s football in Stockholm. Even though the Swedish team lost 5–2 the players were celebrated as heroes. However, the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) argued that players in Swedish clubs needed to train more and differently. What followed was a process of professionalization and scientization of Swedish coaching, a process that had begun a decade earlier in endurance sports. Soon, physiologists were involved with testing, evaluating and monitoring athletes, designing training setups, and even team selection. They used the latest scientific theories, technologies, and tests to make training and coaching less about experience and more about comparability and evidentiality. This ‘scientific turn’ in Swedish sports from the 1950s onwards was part of a larger rationalization of Swedish society in which science in general, particularly physiology, played a major role. It co-evolved with a growing participation by women and a reinterpretation of gender roles. We argue that, while traditionally based on experiential knowledge and personal experience, Swedish coaching went through a sportification process that made it more specialized, rationalized, and professionalized. In the end, it became an ideal to listen to what science says.

In the global lockdown following COVID-19, Sweden stands out as a deviant case. While most countries in Europe imposed severe restrictions on their citizens, measures in Sweden were comparatively moderate and aimed at balancing constraints with openness. In this chapter, we paint a broad picture of the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis for Swedish sports, outdoor recreation, and physical activity on both macro and micro levels. At the macro level, we show how the Swedish government’s measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 affected the conditions for sports and physical activity. Furthermore, we analyze governmental aid to sports organizations and how these actions were received by the Swedish Sports Confederation (SSC). On the micro level, we provide examples of how the pandemic affected individuals with regards to leadership, sports, physical activity, and outdoor recreation. 

Why are there keep-fit races specifically for women? How were they established and why are they so popular? Are girls’ races good or bad if the goal is greater equality in sport? With this book, Karin S. Lindelöf and Annie Woube (both ethnologists working at the Centre for Gender Studies, Uppsala University) shed new light on girls’ races and their participants.

The history of sport shows how women have been excluded from major keep-fit events for paternalistic, sexist, and downright idiotic reasons. The pictures of Kathrine Switzer, who was forced to defend herself against an attack by a functionary to be able to finish the Boston Marathon in 1967, are iconic. In Sweden we have several examples of women who defied the ban on participating in the Vasaloppet ski race. Girls’ races (tjejlopp) should be understood in the light of this historical heritage – they are a response to exclusion mechanisms that were at first highly concrete, but they have additionally had a more subtle impact on the culture of keep-fit sporting events. Here, as in sport in general, men have often been the norm. In the girls’ races, it is the other way around. As Lindelöf and Woube ably demonstrate, this entails both a liberating element and a limiting image of women doing sports.

De senaste 100 åren har teknikens och vetenskapens betydelse för träning och tränarskap ökat lavinartat. Från att ha spelat en undanskymd roll under 1900-talets första hälft, har ny teknologi och nya forskningsrön, i syfte att förbättra prestationerna, blivit en central del av idrotten. Utvecklingen har kallats för en tekno-vetenskaplig revolution (Fouché, 2017).Det senaste decenniet har utvecklingen fortsatt och accelererat. Allt mer avancerad teknik används för att övervaka, utvärdera och optimera träningen i en rad sporter.Denna utveckling väcker frågor. Vad betyder den ökade användningen av avancerad teknik för coaching i praktiken? Vilka fördelar respektive risker kan uppstå och hur kan de hanteras? Dessa frågor är i fokus i ett pågående forskningsprojekt, som tittar närmare på användandet av teknik för att analysera idrottsliga prestationer inom svensk herrelitfotboll. Specifikt studerar vi teknikens roll för träningen i föreningarna i Allsvenskan.

Genom att utrusta blivande tränare med verktyg för att själva hantera och värdera teknik i coachingen, kan många av de historiska misstagen (övertro på tekniska lösningar, oförmåga att kommunicera testresultat och andra värden på ett meningsfullt vis, etcetera) undvikas. Tekniken ger ökade möjligheter för tränare att mäta och i praktiken övervaka sina spelare. Detta ställer nya krav på etiska överväganden från både tränare och klubbar.

Contemporary images of desirable work (for example at gaming companies or at one of the tech giants) foregrounds creativity and incorporates and idealises elements of play. Simultaneously, becoming one of the best in some particular leisure activity can require many long hours of hard, demanding work. Between on the one hand work and on the other hand leisure and play, we enter the domain of games and sports. Most classical sports originally developed from physical practices of moving the human body and these practices were, through standardization, organization and rationalization, turned into sports. Many sport researchers, (sport) historians and (sport) sociologists have pointed out that sports have gone through a process of “sportification”. Cross-country skiing is an example of an activity that has gone through a historical process of sportification, over time becoming progressively more managed and regulated. Computer games are today following a similar trajectory and have gone from being a leisure activity to becoming a competitive activity, “e-sports”, with professional players, international competitions, and live streams that are watched by tens of millions of viewers. In this paper we look at similarities between the sportification of cross-country skiing and e-sports. While there are many similarities, one important difference is that where classical sports (e.g. cross-country skiing) often originated in work-related practices (in this case forestry), the formation of new and emerging sports (for example e-sports) instead often originates in playful leisure activities. We will in this text show how sports and sportification processes can function as a lens with which to better understand the intersection of work and play, and well as their overlapping and hybrid albeit non-mutually exclusive combinations; laborious play and playful work.