No pain, no gain? „Playing Hurt“ im Spitzensport

Der Weg zum Erfolg im Sport ist oft mir Entbehrungen und harter Arbeit verbunden. Besonders schlimm ist es für Sporttreibende, wenn aufgrund einer Verletzung oder Erkrankung die Teilnahme an einem Wettkampf auf dem Spiel steht. Viele Sportlerinnen und Sportler beißen selbst dann die Zähne zusammen, wenn gesundheitliche Risiken drohen …

Publication History

Article published online:
01 December 2025

• Literatur

• 1 Bierschwale J. Der Held im Magdeburger Handball-Drama. In Welt. 20.06.2023
• 2 Sanderson J, Weathers M, Grevious A. et al. A hero or sissy? Exploring media framing of NFL quarterbacks injury decisions. Communication & Sport 2016; 4: 3-22
• 3 John JM, Wachsmuth S, Thiel A. „Either or“ or „as well as“: Exploring the relation between health and performance throughout the career pathways of elite athletes, musicians, and mathematicians. Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology 2024;
• 4 Schubring A, Halltén M, Barker-Ruchti N. et al. Balancing risk-taking and self-care: The ecology of athlete health behaviour during the Olympic qualification phase. International Review for the Sociology of Sport 2023;
• 5 John JM. Gesundheit im Nachwuchsleistungssport – Ein Paradoxon?. In Wörz T. Hrsg. READY to COMPETE?! Prävention & Rehabilitation im Nachwuchsleistungssport. 13. Internationales Symposium Nachwuchsleistungssport. Lengerich: Pabst-Verlag; 2023: 26-36
• 6 Thiel A. Spitzensport und Gesundheit – eine Risikokultur im Fokus. Elite Sports and Health – a „Culture of Risk“. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Sportmedizin 2014; 65: 147-148
• 7 Bursik J, Mayer J, Thiel A. et al. „Anyone who weighs up risks doesn’t belong here“: How do elite handball players manage physical health risk throughout their professional careers?. Front Sports Act Living 2025; 7: 1553948
• 8 Roderick M, Waddington I, Parker G. Playing Hurt. Managing injuries in English professional football. International Review for the Sociology of Sport 2000; 35: 165-180
• 9 Bette K-H, Schimank U, Wahlig D. et al. Biographische Dynamiken im Leistungssport. Möglichkeiten der Dopingprävention im Jugendalter [Biographical dynamics in high performance sports. Possibilities of doping prevention in adolescents]. Köln: Sport und Buch Strauß; 2002
• 10 Hughes R, Coakley J. Positive deviance among athlete: The implications of overconformity to the sport ethic. Sociology of Sport Journal 1991; 8: 307-325
• 11 Nixon HL. Accepting the risks of pain and injury in sport: Mediated cultural influences on playing hurt. Sociol Sport J 1993; 10: 183-196
• 12 Bursik J, Mayer J, Thiel A. et al. The role of psychosocial factors in the behavior of performing hurt: A systematic review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology under review
• 13 Schnell A, Mayer J, Diehl K. et al. Giving everything for athletic success! – Sports-specific risk acceptance of elite adolescent athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise 2014; 15: 165-172
• 14 Mayer J, Giel KE, Malcolm D. et al. Compete or rest? Willingness to compete hurt among adolescent elite athletes. Psychol Sport Exerc 2018; 35: 143-150
• 15 Diehl K, Mayer J, Thiel A. et al. „Playing hurt“: der Umgang jugendlicher Leistungssportler mit Gelenkschmerzen. Der Schmerz 2019; 33: 49-56
• 16 Overbye M. Walking the line? An investigation into elite athletes’ sport-related use of painkillers and their willingness to use analgesics to train or compete when injured. International Review for the Sociology of Sport 2021; 56: 1091-1115
• 17 Joncheray H, Chavinier-Réla S, Burlot F. et al. Experiences of normalization of pain and injury in elite adolescent basketball. Sociology of Sport Journal 2023; 40: 69-77
• 18 McNarry G, Allen-Collinson J, Evans AB. „You always wanna be sore, because then you are seeing results“: Exploring positive pain in competitive swimming. Sociology of Sport Journal 2020; 37: 301-309
• 19 Theberge N. „Just a normal bad part of what I do“: Elite athletes’ accounts of the relationship between health and sport. Sociology of Sport Journal 2008; 25: 206-222
• 20 Schubring A, Bub E-M, Thiel A. „How much is too much?“ The social construction of elite youth athlete exercise tolerances from the coaches’ perspective. Journal of Sport and Social Issues 2015; 39: 308-331
• 21 Curry TJ. A little pain never hurt anyone: Athletic career socialization and the normalization of sports injury. Symbolic Interaction 1993; 16: 273-290
• 22 Safai P. Healing the body in the „culture of risk“: Examining the negotiation of treatment between sport medicine clinicians and injured athletes in canadian intercollegiate sport. Sociology of Sport Journal 2003; 20: 127-146
• 23 Dunn WR, George MS, Churchill L. et al. Ethics in sports medicine. Am J Sports Med 2007; 35: 840-844
• 24 Malcolm D, Scott A. Practical responses to confidentiality dilemmas in elite sport medicine. Br J Sports Med 2014; 48: 1410-1413
• 25 AlHashmi R, Pocock M, Channon A. et al. A typological understanding of medical support in sport: What do we know and what’s next?. International Review for the Sociology of Sport 2024;
• 26 Bundon AM, Hurd Clarke LC. „Keeping us from breaking“: Elite athletes’ access to and use of complementary and alternative medicine. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health 2014; 6: 121-138
• 27 Greenfield BH, West CR. Ethical issues in sports medicine: A review and justification for ethical decision making and reasoning. Sports Health 2012; 4: 475-479
• 28 Wooding CB, Prior RF. No regrets: Former collegiate student-athletes’ reflections on regret. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 2021; 35: 136-154