Although some prospective studies have shown that many successful young athletes do not maintain the same level of success when they reach adulthood, there is still a lack of information regarding athletes who started their international involvement at early ages. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the international pathway of male and female athletes in different sports from the moment of their competitive debut, in order to determine how many international athletes at early ages competed or did not compete internationally as juniors and/or seniors. The sample included 395 athletes (soccer, volleyball, swimming and judo), born between 1974 and 1981, who could have competed in their national squads between 1988 and 2008. Results showed that only a third of international pre‐junior athletes reappeared as senior athletes, confirming the difficulties of predicting late success based on early identification and selection.

The primary purpose of the present study was to determine how many international senior athletes competed at the international level during their development. This examination was conducted across different sports, genders, and levels of success. 532 international senior athletes of four Olympic sports (soccer, volleyball, swimming, and judo) who were born between 1974 and 1983 and competed at National squads between 1988 and 2008. The results showed, particularly at team sports, that a significant number of athletes did not have any international experience during their development as a youth. Overall, results suggest that early involvement in international events and selection of talent during early ages is not a prerequisite of success, particularly in team and male sports.

This study explored the early development of expert athletes compared to a group of athletes that did not achieve an expert level of performance despite being involved in youth events with their national squads. In particular, the activities, training patterns, and psychosocial influences that characterized their paths in competitive sports were examined. Male and female participants (N = 42) from different sports were interviewed. Overall, athletes showed several commonalities. However, experts were selected to national squads later and also started thinking about investing in becoming elite athletes later. Non-experts revealed more parental pressure and less individual training with coaches.

Our study aims to analyse the perception of elite handball players, belonging to generations with different levels of success, on: i) how they characterize their most important club and national team coach; ii) how they characterize their preferential coach in the different stages of their sports career (Bloom, 1985).Fourteen athletes were interviewed based on the interview protocol of Gould, Dieffenbach and Moffett (2002). In the specialization years, the most successful athletes reported that they had one coach in the club, and at the same time a national team coach, that permanently marked their sports career and their personality.All athletes reported that detailed knowledge about the sport was the most important characteristic of their most important club and national team coaches, throughout the specialization years in addition to a strong insistence on perfection. According to the perception of the most successful athletes, their reference coaches taught directly and indirectly (caring, paying attention, shaping the personality) and also emphasized expectations, hard work, discipline and the attitude that hard work pays off. In addition, both club and national team coaches devoted their time to the planning of individualized training programs, particularly in the specializations years. Our study aims to analyse the perception of elite handball players, belonging to generations with different levels of success, on: i) how they characterize their most important club and national team coach; ii) how they characterize their preferential coach in the different stages of their sports career (Bloom, 1985).Fourteen athletes were interviewed based on the interview protocol of Gould, Dieffenbach and Moffett (2002). In the specialization years, the most successful athletes reported that they had one coach in the club, and at the same time a national team coach, that permanently marked their sports career and their personality.All athletes reported that detailed knowledge about the sport was the most important characteristic of their most important club and national team coaches, throughout the specialization years in addition to a strong insistence on perfection. According to the perception of the most successful athletes, their reference coaches taught directly and indirectly (caring, paying attention, shaping the personality) and also emphasized expectations, hard work, discipline and the attitude that hard work pays off. In addition, both club and national team coaches devoted their time to the planning of individualized training programs, particularly in the specializations years.

A presente investigação analisou as relações entre a prática desportiva de estudantes universitários e o modo como estes se percepcionavam a si próprios e às suas vidas. Participaram nesta investigação 2284 estudantes de ambos os sexos, com idades entre os 18 e os 30 anos (M = 21,87 ±2,37), que preencheram um questionário sobre a sua prática desportiva, bem como versões portuguesas do Physical Self-Perception Profile (Fox & Corbin, 1989), da Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999), da Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) e da Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Em geral, a análise dos resultados revelou que os indivíduos que possuíam mais confiança física e que avaliavam a sua vida mais positivamente praticavam desporto mais regularmente; porém, verificou-se igualmente que quem se percebia menos forte fisicamente e tinha uma auto-estima mais baixa também praticava desporto mais regularmente do que os pares.