Abstract

Sport is an activity practiced recreationally or professionally. Those who do it professionally occasions receive financial contributions and manage to study a professional career, which is known as a dual career. However, there are those who present this activity as their work. The objective of the study was to analyze the arguments of Chilean athletes to refer to sports as a work activity. The specific objective was to critically reflect on the development of the dual career in Chile To understand these arguments, a qualitative study was conducted through semi-structured active interviews with high performance athletes and recreational, Olympic and Paralympic athletes. The results show that athletes demand recognition as public workers through three arguments: economic, subordination and dependency, and identity. The conclusions and discussions suggest to debate their recognition as public workers.