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This study aimed to examine how Brazilian athletes, who participated in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, perceive Olympism and its values within the context of their sports training, particularly considering the prevalent neoliberal elements in their high-performance sports environment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight athletes from a region with a strong emphasis on competitive sports. The analysis revealed that athletes primarily associate Olympism with their personal experiences in sports. Their representations align with an Olympic and neoliberal framework, emphasizing performance and professionalism, while also recognizing them as moral exemplars. Athletes develop their understanding of sports values within the discourse of high-performance sports and daily routines. These findings highlight the integration of Olympism into athletes' perceptions, shaped by the demands of neoliberal ideologies that prioritize competitiveness and commercialization within the sports domain. The study provides a critical perspective on the influence of neoliberalism on the formation of Olympic athletes' subjectivity.
Silva et al. (Wed,) studied this question.