ABSTRACT This article provides a historical examination of the re-emergence of genetic sex testing in international athletics, focusing on the legal prohibition of this type of testing. While previous scholarship has primarily addressed scientific and ethical critiques of genetic sex testing, the fact that such testing has also been legally prohibited, most notably through Norway’s Biotechnology Act but also through other national and international legal instruments in Europe, is missing from existing analyses. Scientific, ethical, and legal objections converged during the late twentieth century to discredit genetic sex testing, and these objections culminated in formally banning the practice. World Athletics’ 2025 decision to re-introduce genetic sex testing must be situated within this longer historical trajectory. The new policy risks colliding with well-established legal frameworks that were erected in response to historical injustices caused by genetic testing. By centring the legal dimension and the history of its emergence, this article advances existing scholarship by demonstrating that genetic sex testing has not been merely ethically fraught and scientifically flawed but was also rendered unlawful. This has major implications for the viability of World Athletics’ new policy, which have not so far been sufficiently acknowledged.

ABSTRACT This study examines ‘Shun Wu Tang’, a traditional martial arts community organisation in Yunlin County, privately operated by martial arts masters. It specifically focuses on the narratives of the third- and fourth-generation inheritors after World War II, aiming to reveal the transmission and development model of traditional Taiwanese martial arts, which are deeply influenced by Minnan culture. By analysing journals, newspapers, and oral histories, we uncover how the century-long history of ‘Shun Wu Tang’ reflects the landscape of Taiwanese migration and settlement since the late Qing and early Republican periods. The key factors enabling its deep-rooted presence in Taiwan include its hereditary family-based operation, its role in local security and social stability, and its integration with folk religious rituals through martial performances dedicated to deities. The opportunity for international dissemination arose from Taiwan’s pressing need to enhance its diplomatic image through cultural exchange in martial arts. The subsequent expansion and consolidation of its overseas presence can be attributed to the profound martial expertise and charismatic leadership of the recent two generations of inheritors, as well as the unwavering commitment of their disciples to upholding the core values of martial ethics and integrity within ‘Shun Wu Tang’.

ABSTRACT The image of boxer Luis Ángel Firpo played a key role in shaping national identity in Argentina, offring a transnational perspective on Argentina and Latin America. His 1923 fight against Jack Dempsey – famous for the moment when Dempsey was knocked out of the ring – became known as the ‘Fight of the Century’. More than a spectacle, it marked the onset of sport’s spectacularisation in Argentina. Firpo, ‘The Wild Bull of the Pampas’, came to embody a cultural icon, whose presence permeated literature, visual arts, and popular media. As Argentina’s first world-title contender and Latin America’s first sports celebrity, Firpo embodied ideals of virility and Latin identity. His symbolic defeat was later appropriated by the Peronist government to construct a heroic national narrative. Contrasting contemporary representations from 1923 with Argentine newsreels from 1954 – a time when such media served as propaganda – unveils the manner in which sporting images served as cultural artefacts, as proposed by Mike O'Mahony, and the development of a socially constructed sporting gaze, as highlighted by Mike Huggins.

ABSTRACT In 1993 the Women's Football Association (WFA), the organisation which had run women's football in England for 24 years, ceded control of the sport to the Football Association (FA). This has often been represented as a progressive move for women's football, but the research presented here – grounded in oral history interviews and an analysis of relevant archival documents – disputes this interpretation. The WFA administration was undoubtedly weak and divided, and was unable to cope with the dramatic growth of women's football which occurred in the late 1980s, while WFA members did want more FA recognition of and support for women's football – but not at the expense of an independently-functioning WFA. It was the FA who chose to pursue a total takeover, ignoring the opposition expressed by WFA members in the years between 1990 and 1993. Finally, an examination of the years post-1993 demonstrates that the FA's move came at the detriment of women's football continuing to have a significant voice in governance: the under-representation of women within football governance in the UK needs to be seen as one legacy of the 1993 takeover. Overall, the takeover should be seen as a moment of disempowerment for women's football.

ABSTRACT Pool was one of the recreational minority sporting disciplines in Zimbabwe, played mostly by the elite social classes of society from the colonial period through the early years of independence. From the 1990s, however, pool gained prominence, increasing even further in popularity in the twenty-first century when it has become one of the notable informal modes of survival amidst a high unemployment rate and volatile economy. Using players’ biographies, ethnography, netnography, newspapers, and secondary literature, this article argues that pool has transformed from being a mere recreational activity to a competitive sport with significant financial rewards to sustain individual and household livelihoods in a crisis economy. Pool sporting stakeholders have negotiated different challenges including administrative issues, lack of resources, violence, and drug abuse.

ABSTRACT This article examines the institutionalisation of physical education in Portugal from the advent of liberalism in the early nineteenth century to the end of the First Republic in 1926. Liberal governments assigned physical education a significant role in various aspects of public life. It was expected to contribute to the expansion of the school system, the activities of institutions focused on rehabilitating marginalised populations, and the preparation of the armed forces. During this period, several legislative initiatives sought to promote the integration of physical education into national life. However, their outcomes were disappointing. This article explores the reasons for this failure, highlighting the inability to expand the primary and secondary school systems as a key factor. In this context, the institutionalisation of physical education relied on limited-scale actions in both the public and private sectors. Portugal’s participation in World War I heightened awareness of the shortcomings of public policies regarding physical education and reinforced a militaristic view of the discipline. During the same period, the emerging sports movement became crucial in engaging urban Portuguese populations with sports practices.

ABSTRACT The influence of Scotland on the creation of basketball has not been documented. This article addresses two key themes: the links between the early development of basketball and Scotland; and how Scotland alongside the Scottishness of Naismith and his life experiences influenced the game’s creation. Through discussing the life of Dr James Naismith up until basketball was developed in 1891, this article adds to and re-imagines some of the contributions to knowledge about the creation of basketball alongside the connection of the sport and Naismith to Scotland. The article proposes that if the devisal and creation of basketball are considered through the ancestorial, communal, cultural, educational, ethnic, personal, religious, social, and sporting lenses of Naismith, basketball at its inception can be argued to have Scottish influences. These stem from the Scottish heritage of Naismith alongside his life, upbringing and experiences in Scottish settler environments that likewise influenced his own life and future. In highlighting multiple Scottish influences upon Naismith, the article outlines how Scotland in conjunction with other prevalent factors including his professional training as a physical educationist, the pioneering efforts of the Young Men’s Christian Association and the advances in muscular Christianity led to the development of basketball.

ABSTRACT This article documents the spread and uptake of basketball, specifically the infancy and the difficulty of establishing the sport in Scotland during the late-nineteenth to early-twentieth century. It discusses factors that help explain why basketball struggled to develop in Scotland and was sparsely played until World War II. It utilises accounts from former Scottish basketball personnel, local newspapers alongside documents from the Archives and Special Collections at Springfield College. The article proposes a seven-fold framework that rests upon two overarching arguments: that basketball relied on being voluntarily accepted and adopted in a new host country; and the assimilation of basketball into a different culture was difficult because of the existing social landscape and sporting environment. It concludes that modern sports such as association football, golf and rugby developed earlier in Scotland and by the arrival of basketball, held dominant positions. Furthermore, the Young Men's Christian Association played a key role in developing basketball worldwide were committed to football. Lastly, the contemporary gender ideologies led to men being off put from playing basketball due to the ‘girls’ game’ reputation. This coincided with and was replaced by the rise of netball, which quickly established improved foundations within training colleges for women.

ABSTRACT British baseball had two periods when it developed professional leagues, in 1890 and the 1930s. A key element of the emergence of a professional game was transnational linkages provided by business, individuals and religion. Social and industrial links between the United States and Britain facilitated professional baseball. In the 1930s the enthusiasm for baseball by the industrialist John Moores saw the game rapidly develop from an amateur base in Liverpool to professional leagues in Lancashire, London and Yorkshire. It has been argued that, faced with hostility from elements of the media and established sports, especially cricket, establishing baseball as a professional spectator sport was challenging. The hiatus caused by World War Two left a shallow-rooted sport particularly vulnerable and it failed to re-emerge as a professional game. But the professional leagues inspired an amateur game, most notably in the city of Hull, which developed a substantial amateur league, encompassing four divisions and a women’s section by 1939. In Hull amateur baseball survived the conflict, it re-emerged with a multi-divisional format that continued into the 1960s. However, as the generation enthused by professional baseball retired from active involvement, the game receded to minuscule levels of participation.

ABSTRACT In 1826 Marian Mason was introduced to British society as a callisthenic instructor. Trained by P.H. Clias, a gymnast who oversaw physical training in the military and navy, Mason is the first high profile female fitness coach in British history. Despite her importance as a landmark figure, Mason's contributions, and indeed life, remain relatively obscured from the historical record. Studying Mason's heyday in public life from 1826 to the early 1830s, this article provides the first substantive examination of Mason's life, her social networks and wealth and, critically, the monograph she published in 1826. While acknowledging Mason's role as an early female fitness coach, the article provides a deep reading of Mason's successes, focusing on her class and relationship advantages, her ability to court medical favour and shrewdness in addressing broader societal concerns. This article is less a biography and more an examination of the broader social and medical trends in early nineteenth century England, which created a space for people like Mason. The article presents a simple argument – Marian Mason was an early female fitness coach who, drawing on broader societal concerns about the body, created a niche for her career by leveraging her expertise and familial connections.