Memórias de Atenah: trajetórias de mulheres brasileiras na corrida de aventura

Abstract

This research investigated the athletic life trajectory of athletes of the adventure racing (AR) team Atenah, the only Brazilian team formed exclusively by women, that competed from the year 2000 to 2007. The AR can be defined as a multisport competition in which teams formed, in most events, by women and men, with the requirement of the rule being at least one person of a gender other than the other members of their team. The AR combines different sporting modalities such as mountain biking, trekking, canoeing, vertical techniques and orienteering and demands of the athletes, physical and psychic resistance, because the competitions are long lasting and develop in wild environments. Field research was conducted through a semi-structured interview with the Atenah team, in which it was possible to verify the norm's transgression, in a sport commonly dominated by men. It was possible to observe that the athletes use strategies of "subversion" and "conservation", according to Bordieu's conception and constitute "agencies", according to Dworkin and Messner's theorizing. The fact that they organize a team exclusively for women can be understood as a "subversion strategy" or the constitution of "resistant agency". However, paradoxically, Athena's athletes also used "conservation strategies" to stay in sports, thus forming "reproductive agency." It was also possible to conclude that the support and encouragement of the family was fundamental to the success of the athletes in the sport. Analysis of the reasons for the end of the team suggests that women's engagement in the adventure race may be threatened by the institutions of marriage and motherhood.