A Holistic Vision of the Academic and Sports Development of Elite Spanish Track and Field Athletes.

BACKGROUND: Combining sports and studies could be stressful, but beneficial for the athletes' career development. This study explores resources and barriers in the combination of the sports and academic life spheres during the lifespan of elite Spanish track-and-field athletes. METHODS: Seven elite Spanish track-and-field athletes participated in a semistructured interview about their experiences to establish a dual career combining sports and studies/work. Interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) followed to analyze data. RESULTS: Findings show that elite Spanish track-and-field athletes face educational and institutional barriers to developing a dual career. Time management, social support, and additional resources could play a key role in the success or failure to develop a dual career. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that, to overcome dual-career barriers, athletes are resourceful if social support is provided at both the micro (coaches, families, etc.) and macro (political and educational institutions) levels. It also shows that pursuing an academic career can help in alleviating inherent tensions to athletic life and in finding personal balance.

Study of an Anti-Doping Education Program in Spanish Sports Sciences Students.

Doping continues to be one of the biggest risks to the credibility of elite sports, and its practice remains widespread among athletes despite improved controls. Athletes' support personnel could be key to preventing doping behavior. In this sense, anti-doping education for this population appears as a possible strategy to reduce doping behaviors in elite sport, but these programs must be evaluated and designed based on scientific evidence. The aim of this research is to explore the impact of an anti-doping education program about substances perceived efficacy, ill-health short- and long-term effects, and the morality of doping substance use in Spanish sports sciences students. METHOD: A total of 145 students of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences (PASS) from different Spanish universities who took an online anti-doping educational course of the Spanish Anti-Doping Commission (CELAD) answered a questionnaire on their perceptions about doping before, after, and four months later. RESULTS: The results show that the course reduced students' ignorance about the effects of substances on performance and health and increased their moral judgment and feelings against doping. DISCUSSION: The results are in line with previous research that showed that the moral stance against doping can be improved through educational programs. CONCLUSION: Online educational interventions can be effective in reducing doping behavior, so their future implementation among ASP can be an effective strategy to reduce doping behavior.