Gain by losing: Chinese elite athletes’ understanding of playing hurt and lived experience

Abstract

This study explores how Chinese athletes develop their attitudes toward playing hurt. The data for this study were gathered during 2 years of fieldwork, which comprised participant observation and semistructured interviews conducted with athletes of the F provincial teams. The findings reveal that Chinese elite athletes’ choices to play hurt are closely linked to their life experiences. These athletes channel negative life experiences into the psychological resilience and determination required to overcome injuries. Concurrently, they reframe athletic injuries and broader hardships as a catalyst for upward social mobility. We drew on Lao Tzu's philosophy of “Gain by losing (wu huo sun zhi er yi)” to frame our analysis of how loss can lead to gain within this transformative process. The philosophy of change emphasizes that injuries, like all positive and negative experiences in life, are transitory and dynamic. This study examines how socio-cultural factors and injury-related cultural norms interrelate to influence athletes’ attitudes toward playing hurt. By adopting a dialectical lens, this research contributes to non-Western frameworks for understanding injury and pain in elite sports.