Study On The Influence Of Significant Others In The Sports Career Of Outstanding Middle And Long Distance Runners In Yunnan Province

"Significant others" are people and groups of people who have a significant impact on an individual’s self-development and growth.The presence of others in an athlete’s athletic career can affect the formation of his or her values,the direction of selfdevelopment,and even the athletic performance he or she can achieve.In this paper,we take the current outstanding middle and long distance runners in Yunnan Province as the research object,and use literature method,interview method,and qualitative research theme analysis to explore the influence of different important others on the athletes during their period from amateur training to become professional training outstanding athletes.Meanwhile,under the perspective of life course theory,a case study was conducted using narrative analysis to analyze the influence of significant others on the lives,individual dynamic choices,and important events of Yunnan Province’s outstanding female middle and long-distance runners in their unique growth paths in certain time and space.The findings of the study are as follows:(1)The significant others in the athletic career of outstanding middle-distance runners in Yunnan Province are: parents,coaches,and peers.The influence of the three types of significant others is reflected in four aspects: Social support,Value identity,Selfdevelopment,and Individual socialization.Social support provides care and help for athletes’ life and growth;Value identity provides firm beliefs for athletes’ commitment to training and competition;Self-development provides the basis for athletes to achieve excellent sports performance,and Individual socialization provides the possibility for athletes to integrate into society.The influence of significant others in the athletic career of outstanding middle-distance runners in Yunnan Province is all-rounded and of great significance to the athletes.(2)The influence of parents among significant others is reflected in two aspects of social support and value identity,the influence of coaches is involved in all four aspects,while the influence of peers is in three aspects of social support,self-development and individual socialization.In order of importance,coaches are the most important important others in the athletic career of Yunnan’s excellent middle distance runners,followed by peers and parents in the last place.(3)From the case study of excellent middle and long distance runners in Yunnan Province,this paper concludes that the athletic career of middle and long distance runners is mutually constructed by life in a certain time and space,personal motivation,important events and significant others’ influence,and significant others’ influence is the most important factor in constructing the athletic career of excellent middle and long distance runners.