title: Athletes confessions: the sports biography as an interaction ritual.
abstract: Commercialization of emotions is not a new phenomenon but in Denmark there is a new general trend to tell and sell personal stories in the media. Personal deprivation and crises are also major topics in sports media. This paper focuses on sports biographies as a book genre that is reviving in popularity. The paper approaches the topic through the biographies of one Danish athlete: the former professional cyclist, Jesper Skibby, who writes about his doping disclosure and shares his personal dilemmas as a former elite sportsman. The thematic text analysis orientates around social interactions, emotions, and personality constructions. Inspired by microsociology with a Durkheimian flavor of Goffman and Hochschild, themes including "face work," "interaction rituals," and "emotions management" are discussed. The analysis claims that sharing personal information in the media is not only a means of confession and reclaiming status but is also business and management - on an intimate level. Telling the story of the corrosion of a sporting character has become a hot issue, an entertainment, and not least a commercial commitment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Thing
authors.forename: L T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Ronglan
mesh_terms: D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology*; D001642:Bicycling / Q000523:psychology; D001680:Biographies as Topic; D002562:Ceremonial Behavior; D003718:Denmark; D004300:Doping in Sports / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D013177:Sports / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Sport sociology; doping; emotions; identity; media