Menu Close


Winning the race? Cover


However we are not asking what the relevance the religious dimension of sport has to this debate. Through an examination of literature on the relationship between sport, religion, and spirituality, hope emerges as a compelling feature of sport and as a significant part of what makes sport meaningful. I explore four main locations of hope in sport: winning, losing, and anticipation; star athletes; perfect moments; and relational embodiment, and examines how these locations intersect with the enhancement debate.

Using Christian theological reflection to problematize the four main approaches to the ethical question of enhancement use in elite sport, and the underlying values informing these approaches, I ask: How will hope in sport potentially be affected by techno-science, and how might a valuing of sports’ spiritual dimension—and particularly hope—reshape the sport enhancement debate? The clear conclusion is that sports’ spiritual dimension includes hope, and that the locations of hope in sport are morally relevant to the sport enhancement discussion. (Read More)