Athletic bodies and aging in context: The narrative construction of experienced and anticipated selves in time

There has been limited research focusing upon experiences and expectations of the self in relation to the anticipated passing of time and subsequent process of self-aging. Accordingly, this article aims to examine the narrative construction of selves in time in a population of young athletes (mean age 20 years). A number of anticipated changes to the self are considered, including the ways in which the self relates to notions of embodiment and social context over time. Aging into the sporting self in the present, and the settled and reflective self in the future are highlighted. The consequences of these selves in relation to Western notions of an idealized life curve are problematized.