Reframing the traditional sports injury paradigm: Exhibition-as-intervention in elite sport

This article critically considers how exhibition, as a modality for research evidence delivery, can be mobilised in the largely positivist and biomedical world of elite sport for the purpose of system change. Our interdisciplinary team composed of a health geographer and rehabilitation scientist together with non-academic specialists in athlete health and performance innovation, conceptualised an exhibition-as-intervention to reframe gender disparities in sports injury from being biologically induced to also socially influenced. Here, we reflect on our experience creating and implementing More Than Medals: Gendered Environments of Sports Injury Uncovered —a research-based, online, multimedia exhibition exploring the gendered environments of sports injury through the first-hand experiences of female athletes. Using evaluation interviews with both sports staff and athletes, we assess the impacts of our exhibition-as-intervention. We conclude that exhibition offers a novel way to bridge social and biomedical paradigms, innovate on evidence delivery in elite sport, and close the gap between social sciences research and practice.