The sorting of gymnasts: An Actor-Network Theory approach to examining talent identification and development in women's artistic gymnastics

Abstract

Talent identification is a standard part of the high performance sport pathway. In New Zealand, documentation commonly discusses the pathways of the gymnasts as they move through from beginner to high performance gymnasts. As Law (2004, pp. 18–19) notes, such documentation is often ‘clean and reassuring’. In New Zealand, it details the process a gymnast must go through to reach the highest level. This chapter looks beyond these clean and reassuring documents at the selection processes that take place, using an Actor-Network Theory (ANT) approach. The significance of ANT for this chapter is the way it allows consideration of the role of non-humans alongside humans (Latour, 2005) in the production of gymnastics practice. Thus, as well as considering how a range of human actors are important parts of the gymnastics network, this chapter will also note the role non-humans that are used to identify talented gymnasts. Using data collected through a multi-sited ethnographic study of gymnastics in New Zealand, the chapter examines two points in the talent development process: first, the initial selection of gymnasts into a high performance programme, and second, the selection of gymnasts into the national team.