Critical Realism as a Lens for Analyzing Beijing 2022 Winter Sports Participation Legacy

Aim and Research Questions: This paper aims to investigate whether Critical realism (CR) (Byers et al., 2019) could contribute to the analysis of China`s winter sports participation legacy of Beijing 2022? Theoretical Background and Literature Review: Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics were the first Games to implement a legacy plan shaped by Olympic Agenda 2020/New Norm and the IOC Legacy Strategic Approach (BOCWOG et al., 2021). The cornerstone of this plan was the ambitious "300 million" goal, a hard push to increase winter sports participation in China. International scholars have questioned the origins and feasibility of this goal, likely due to limited supporting data, language barriers, and differing social and cultural contexts. Our PRISMA analysis reveals that current literature on legacy offers little empirical evidence on achieving sport participation goals, and rarely conceptualizes "Winter Sports Participation" distinctly. Critical Realism (CR), as a philosophy focused on uncovering underlying realities, could provide a fresh framework to analyze this process. We propose applying CR to study the legacy delivery of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics within non-Western contexts, offering a novel and objective perspective. Research Design, Methodology and Data Analysis: This paper adopts a conceptual approach to explore the potential of Critical Realism (CR) in analyzing the winter sports participation legacy of the Beijing 2022 Games. We propose an integrated framework by combining CR with the "Three-Source Model" (Liu & Jiang, 2016) focusing on the Chinese context, a "Top-down" non-Western sports development model. This framework is intended to provide a deeper understanding of the legacy delivery process, particularly within the context of the "Juguo Tizhi" system, the underlying mechanism behind China's "300 million" goal achievement. While not involving data collection or analysis, our conceptual exploration aims to identify potential challenges and opportunities for winter sports participation legacy within the "Juguo Tizhi" framework. Results/Findings and Discussion: This paper demonstrates the potential of a new framework combining Critical Realism (CR) and the Chinese-originated “Three-Source Model” to deepen our understanding of winter sports participation legacy. Applying CR to the Beijing 2022 case proves both innovative and valuable, as it allows for analysis beyond surface appearances to uncover underlying mechanisms. However, it's crucial to acknowledge challenges stemming from cultural contexts, varying statistical systems, and the limited availability of data that accurately reflects both the ideal and social realities highlighted within the CR framework. Conclusion, Contribution, and Implication: This paper advances the application of Critical Realism (CR) to the study of sport participation legacy within the Chinese context. Our proposed framework offers a systematic approach for analyzing legacy delivery, facilitating cross-contextual research with shared criteria. We contribute to existing knowledge by: - Contextualizing CR: Providing a nuanced understanding of applying CR within China's unique top-down system, large population, and regional diversity. - Bridging Gaps: Addressing knowledge transfer, enabling researchers to adopt CR for legacy studies in various settings. - Global Relevance: Illustrating the interplay between elite and mass participation, offering insights for future winter sports mega-event legacy planning. We believe this new conceptualization opens pathways for future investigation. Studies utilizing this framework can further address the challenges and opportunities posed by Beijing 2022's ambitious "300 million" goal, aiding legacy analysis and participation strategy development for winter sports in diverse contexts. References: (1) Byers, T., Hayday, E., & Pappous, A. (2019). A new conceptualization of mega sports event legacy delivery: Wicked problems and critical realist solution. Sport Management Review, 23(2), 171–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2019.04.001 (2) Liu, L., & Jiang, Z. (2016). Influence of technological innovation capabilities on product competitiveness. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 116(5), 883–902. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-05-2015-0189 (3) BOCWOG, Beijing Sports University, & Centre for Olympic Studies. (2021). Legacy report of Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games: Beijing 2022 (pre-Games). https://library.olympics.com/Default/doc/SYRACUSE/734943/legacy-report-of- olympic-and-paralympic-winter-games-beijing-2022-pre-games-beijing-organising- commi?_lg=en-GB (4) IOC. (2022). Facts and figures: How Beijing 2022 is transforming winter sport in China. https://olympics.com/ioc/news/facts-and-figures-how-beijing-2022-is- transforming-winter-sport-in-china (5) Chen, B., Han, S., Wang, H., Huang, X., & Wang, F. (2023). A study on the behavior intention of university students participating in winter sports. Heliyon, 9(7). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18165 (6) Chen, S., Xing, X., & Chalip, L. (2022). Planning and implementation of event leveraging strategy: China’s legacy pledge to motivate 300 million people to be involved in winter sport. Sport Management Review, 25(5), 771–790. https://doi.org/10.1080/14413523.2021.1987737