Author(s): ZHANG, H., LIU, X., HE, Y., Institution: XIAMEN UNIVERSITY, Country: CHINA, Abstract-ID: 549

Background: Athlete psychological well-being (PWB) is increasingly treated as a safety-critical resource in elite sport, yet evidence is dominated by Western, non-extreme settings. Drawing on generic eudaimonic PWB (Ryff, 1989) and emerging athlete-specific PWB (Trainor et al., 2025), we examined how an Eastern elite athlete understood and sustained PWB in an extreme individual endurance-performance context (the Vendée Globe solo, non-stop, non-assisted round-the-world race).
Methods: We employed an information-rich single-case design with a qualitative approach. The data were WeChat public account posts on the official account of Xu Jingkun, a Chinese elite para-sailor, recorded on 2025-10-04. The data set had Race Days 1-89 (N = 43 posts) and only the text of the main post. The posts were in Mandarin Chinese and were translated into English using a process that used both languages. We used reflexive thematic analysis with inductive meaning-unit coding (Braun & Clarke, 2019).
Results: We developed an eight-component case construct of Eastern elite athlete PWB under extreme conditions: collective transcendent purpose; nature-synergistic attunement; nautical self-confidence and identity worth; adversity-cultivated fortitude; self-governed action capacity; meaningful self-actualisation; mind-body dynamic balance; and safe symbolic bonding. The configuration converged with generic eudaimonic PWB (purpose, autonomy, self-acceptance, growth, positive relations via symbolic bonding, and constrained environmental mastery through self-regulation and adaptive functioning) and with athlete-specific PWB as situated functional capacity in high-demand ecologies. It diverged by redefining eudaimonia from individual telos to collectivist obligation, extending mastery toward human-nature co-regulation, and treating PWB as a risk-informed decision resource during prolonged solitude with minimal real-time support. Endurance and responsibility could stabilise functioning but, when amplified, drift toward self-sabotaging overcommitment.
Conclusion: This case extends athlete PWB theorising by specifying culturally grounded, context-dependent resources that may support safety and functioning in extreme performance ecologies. Practice should integrate collective purpose, nature-based regulation, self-governance, pacing and recovery, and symbolic bonding, while monitoring overcommitment risk.
References:
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589-597.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069.
Trainor, L. R., Bundon, A., Wadey, R., Faulkner, G., & Crocker, P. R. (2025). What is an athlete's psychological well-being? Constructing concepts with Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 1-19.