DOI of the published article https://doi.org/10.1080/00948705.2023.2234978
Is Bodybuilding a sport?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51224/SRXIV.270Keywords:
bodybuilding, philosophy, Gymnastics, performanceAbstract
Since its beginnings, modern bodybuilding has been accompanied by the background issue of whether it should be considered a sport. A problem culminating in its provisional acceptance as a sport by the International Olympic Committee, retracted later. The uncertainty of whether bodybuilding is a sport or not seems to linger. Addressing this issue, Aranyosi (2018) provided an account to determine the status of bodybuilding as a sport that arrives at the negative answer: bodybuilding is not a sport but rather a form of artistic presentation. In this paper, we disagree with Aranyosi. We argue that by the standards he presents in his first argument, bodybuilding should be considered a sport. Further, we argue that his alternative approach on how to evaluate a discipline as more sport- or art-like on a spectrum, is not a valid basis to make such a judgment regarding bodybuilding. Further, even if his spectrum was modified to enable such a judgment, again it would result in bodybuilding being evaluated as a sport. Therefore, we conclude that everyone who accepts Aranyosi´s (or any less restrictive) requirements to decide whether bodybuilding is a sport, has to consider bodybuilding as sport or refrain from making claims about its status.Metrics
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