Psychosocial Experiences of Belonging and Inclusion Among Immigrant Athletes in Swedish Track and Field

Sammanfattning

Sport clubs in Sweden serve as key sites of social life, yet the experiences of athletes with immigrant backgrounds within them remain underexplored. This study examines how athletes with immigrant backgrounds experience belonging and inclusion in Swedish track and field clubs, with particular attention to the everyday interactions and social dynamics that shape these experiences. Five athletes currently active in Swedish track and field clubs in South Sweden were interviewed. The approach combines in-depth interviews with autoethnographic reflection. Data are analyzed using thematic analysis informed by Nira Yuval-Davis's (2006) multi-layered theory of belonging and Allan Elling and Annelies Knoppers's (2005) framework of symbolic inclusion and exclusion in sport. Four themes emerged. Language operated not only as a practical barrier but also as a symbolic marker of status, limiting access to the informal social life through which real belonging is built. Belonging was built gradually through everyday interactions, with informal occasions most significantly fika serving as the key turning point where athletes first felt seen as individuals. Coaches provided structural fairness and equal attention, but the work of social integration remained an independent journey for each athlete. Symbolic inclusion was partial and conditional, often tied to athletic performance and quietly undermined by non-verbal signals of social distance. Cultural adaptation was the most significant path to belonging. When athletes joined fika, began using Swedish, and learned informal club routines, the social world opened up. Critically, this adaptation was not one-directional. When athletes made the effort to use the local language, teammates responded with genuine curiosity, turning one-way adjustment into a meaningful twoway cultural exchange. Together, the findings show that formal membership does not automatically produce symbolic belonging. Belonging becomes available through sustained informal engagement, active language use, and shared cultural participation. The study makes empirical, theoretical, and methodological contributions by providing the first qualitative account of immigrant athlete experiences in Swedish track and field, demonstrating the value of combining the two theoretical frameworks, and showing how autoethnographic reflection can deepen interpretive insight in sport research.