What is life really like for the elite athlete? How does the experience of being a professional sports person differ from the popular perceptions of fans, journalists or academics? Why might elite sports people experience mental health difficulties away from the public gaze?

In the first book-length study of its kind, Kitrina Douglas and David Carless present the life stories of real elite athletes alongside careful analysis and interpretation of those stories in order to better understand the experience of living in sport. Drawing on psychology, sociology,...