What Does "Safe Sport" Mean for Forced Migrant Athletes? Stories and Lessons for Forced Migrant Athletes Resettled in Canada

Elite refugee athletes integrating into host countries and sport contexts may be subject to harmful sport practices. Safe sport aims to create equitable sport environments where athletes are protected from harm. Safe Sport has been informed using Canadian-born athletes’ experiences of harm, resulting in interventions that do not account for the multi-cultural composition of Canadian athletes. The purpose of this research was to understand refugee athletes’ experiences of safety within elite Canadian sport. The project’s methodology was developed with an ethic of care to augment participants’ comfort when sharing their experiences and safeguard participants’ identities. Fourteen elite (national and international) athletes engaged in arts-based conversational interviews to share their experiences of relocating to Canada and competing within Canadian sports. The interviews were transcribed and analysed inductively using a reflexive thematic analysis to highlight our engagement with the data. The results are presented through three temporal polyphonic vignettes (relocating to an unfamiliar environment, transitory period prior to resumption of elite competition, and safety with elite Canadian sports environments) to highlight similarities and differences between athletes’ experiences. Recommendations are provided to assist sports personnel (e.g., sport administrators, sports psychology practitioners, and coaches) in creating safe sport and research contexts for refugee athletes.