Mega-sport events, gender equity, and sport legacy planning: mobilizing performativity for deeper insights

Pavlidis, A; Kennelly, M; Bhattacharya, D; McGillvray, D; Thorpe, H; Forsdike, K; Darcy, S; Fullagar, S

Mega-sport events, gender equity, and sport legacy planning: mobilizing performativity for deeper insights

Pavlidis, A Kennelly, M Bhattacharya, D McGillvray, D Thorpe, H Forsdike, K Darcy, S

Fullagar, S

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Publisher:: ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Annals of Leisure Research, 2025
Issue Date:: 2025-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Pavlidis, A
dc.contributor.author	Kennelly, M
dc.contributor.author	Bhattacharya, D
dc.contributor.author	McGillvray, D
dc.contributor.author	Thorpe, H
dc.contributor.author	Forsdike, K
dc.contributor.author	Darcy, S https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5394-2566
dc.contributor.author	Fullagar, S
dc.date.accessioned	2025-08-06T04:29:36Z
dc.date.available	2025-08-06T04:29:36Z
dc.date.issued	2025-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	Annals of Leisure Research, 2025
dc.identifier.issn	1174-5398
dc.identifier.issn	2159-6816
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/189256
dc.description.abstract	Mega-sporting event legacies have attracted academic interest and examination over the last two decades. The development of legacy plans has become central to sport event bidding, acting as a means of prioritizing outcomes by governing bodies and host governments. Through legacy plans, mega-sport events ‘perform’ as catalysts for change throughout various phases. Drawing on an appraisal of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games official legacy documents and selected interviews, we consider the performative role of legacy in what counts as data, whose voices are included and how they are represented in official narratives. Using feminist theory, we analyse what is (un)stated and how discourses come to matter in legacy narratives. Our analysis found that legacy plans reinforced persistent issues of gender inequity through broad statements with few details. By mobilizing a feminist notion of performativity we identify important insights that can support a more sustainable, equitable and gender-responsive approach.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP230101022
dc.relation.ispartof	Annals of Leisure Research
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/11745398.2025.2517058
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1504 Commercial Services, 1506 Tourism
dc.subject.classification	3504 Commercial services
dc.subject.classification	3508 Tourism
dc.title	Mega-sport events, gender equity, and sport legacy planning: mobilizing performativity for deeper insights
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.for	1504 Commercial Services
utslib.for	1506 Tourism
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Business School
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Business School/Management Discipline
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups/Centre for Health Technologies (CHT)
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups/Change for Good @ UTS (CG)
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups/Centre for Health Technologies (CHT)/Centre for Health Technologies (CHT) Associate Members
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups/The Trustworthy Digital Society
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups/Disability Research Network
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups/Centre for Sports, Business and Society (CSBS)
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2025-08-06T04:29:34Z
pubs.publication-status	Published

Abstract:

Mega-sporting event legacies have attracted academic interest and examination over the last two decades. The development of legacy plans has become central to sport event bidding, acting as a means of prioritizing outcomes by governing bodies and host governments. Through legacy plans, mega-sport events ‘perform’ as catalysts for change throughout various phases. Drawing on an appraisal of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games official legacy documents and selected interviews, we consider the performative role of legacy in what counts as data, whose voices are included and how they are represented in official narratives. Using feminist theory, we analyse what is (un)stated and how discourses come to matter in legacy narratives. Our analysis found that legacy plans reinforced persistent issues of gender inequity through broad statements with few details. By mobilizing a feminist notion of performativity we identify important insights that can support a more sustainable, equitable and gender-responsive approach.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/189256