Sport As Life Content of Successful Finnish Amateur Athletes

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Abstract
The report presents research findings on Finnish male top athletes' education, occupation and family life in the span of life, time expenditure during active sport career, and their relations with sport career. The frame of reference is Festinger's theory of dissonance. The population was the most successful athletes in the Olym pic years from 1956 to 1972. The results are based on surveys from 1972 and 1975. Top athletes' educational level and occupational status have on the average been higher than in Finnish male population of respective age groups in general. Com pared to the average, athletes come more often from urban settings, where edu cational, occupational and other social participation is easier than in the coun tryside. Athletes consider that sport has restricted educational advancement more than occupational career. Sport has been regarded as demanding sacrifices in per sonal life (personal freedom, vacation). In the fields under scrutiny, there were differences between the beginning years, top period and retiring phase to some extent, but no marked differences could be shown between the different years studied. Changes were shown between individual and team athletes as well as the active and retired. The report summarizes the author's dissertation "Urheilu elämäns isältönä. Menestyneiden urheilijoiden elämänura kilpailuvuosina" (Top Sport as Content of Life. Life Career of Successful Athletes during Active Competitive Period) — (Jyväskylä 1977). The dissertation and its supplementary report "Suoma laisen huippu-urheilijan elämänura" (Life Career of Finnish Top Athletes) — (Jyväskylä 1976) focus on sport career of Finnish top athletes. The reports belong to the international research project initiated by the International Committee for Sport Sociology in 1969.

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