Race and racism: Experiences of black Norwegian athletes

This article examines race and racism in sport based on the experiences of black Norwegian athletes. The findings are based on in-depth qualitative interviews with nine female and eight male black athletes. Race and racism concepts are explored to draw attention to different approaches of understanding racism in sport, from the individual to the institutional level. The findings add to previous critical scholarship which cautioned that sport should not be taken for granted as free from racial inequalities. By using Critical Race Theory (CRT), we examine how racializations of racial minorities in sport from mere stereotypes to the ways institutions function, work to produce and reproduce racial inequalities. We argue for a more systematic and critical analysis of contemporary Norwegian sport for a better understanding of how race relations and racism are exercised. This is expected to contribute in the development of better and more effective policies to deal with racial and ethnic diversity in contemporary Norwegian sport.