Welcome to
Why do women experience some sports injuries more than men? And what can we do about it?
This exhibition presents 5 gendered environmental challenges shaping women’s injury experiences in elite sport.
Gendered environmental challenges refer to the social, cultural, and physical conditions of sport that contribute to women’s injury experiences, risk, and outcomes.
Through text, audio, and visual media, each exhibition room explores a specific challenge and concludes with questions prompting reflection.
This exhibition is based on research from the University of Nottingham and the UK Sports Institute that explored the experiences of recently retired elite women athletes.
The central research question was:
“What are the gendered features of women’s sport environments and how do they shape athletes’ injury experiences in the UK high-performance context?”
Analysis included in-depth interviews with 20 recently retired elite women athletes* from 11 Olympic and Commonwealth sports.**
The story of each challenge is told through an original poem constructed entirely of direct quotes from athletes to convey key ideas in their own words.
*Athletes were funded for an average of 7 years, and included those who medalled at major games and those who didn’t.
**Included team, individual, winter, and summer sports.
