Research on excellence tends to focus on individual characteristics while ignoring to a large extent the wider socio-cultural aspects of achievement. This is especially evident in sports. The aim of this study is to frame the issue of sporting excellence sociologically and to address the question whether and if so how the social context affects sport performance, achievement and excellence. This work is based on four empirical research projects within the elite and youth sport culture in Iceland. Each project shows different aspects of the influence of the socio-cultural context on the value...