94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1556081
This article is part of the Research Topic Determinants of Achievement in Top Sport View all 16 articles
Exploring Developmental Factors Influencing Performance Excellence in Twice-Exceptional Saudi Athletes: A Case Study of Paralympic Champions
Provisionally accepted
Abdulhamid Abdullah Alarfaj 1
Marwa Hassan 1
Fahad Almuaili 1
Refah Mohamed Aljohar 1
Mohamed Dahy Hassan 1,2*- 1 Collège of Education, King Faisal University. Hofuf, Al-Ahsaa, KSA., Al-Ahsaa, Saudi Arabia
- 2 King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
Achieving exceptional performance in sports, especially among twice-exceptional athletes, is a complex process that remains underexplored. Achieving exceptional performance in sports, especially among twice-exceptional athletes, is a complex process that has yet to be fully explored in the literature. This study aims to investigate the developmental factors influencing performance excellence through a case study of three Paralympic champions (male, average age 33). Using a combination of achievement portfolios and in-depth interviews, the study explores the athletes' personal experiences and identifies critical psychological, social, and sports-related contexts that shaped their journey to excellence. Two distinct stages emerged from the analysis. The first stage, characterized by organic, unplanned motivation, involved psychological and social influences that fostered a broad interest in sports. The second stage, marked by intentional planning and mastery, was driven by targeted sports contexts and deliberate practice. Multiple factors, including individual growth characteristics and physiological development, impacted these stages differently over time, ultimately contributing to the athletes' sustained excellence. This research provides valuable insights into the nuanced factors that foster exceptional performance in twice-exceptional Paralympic athletes.
Keywords: Twice-exceptional athletes, Paralympic athletes Paralympic champions, Elite performance Performance excellence, developmental factors, Psychosocial impact Psychological and social influences, Adaptive sports excellence Deliberate practice. 1 Introduction
Received: 14 Feb 2025; Accepted: 24 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Alarfaj, Hassan, Almuaili, Aljohar and Hassan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Mohamed Dahy Hassan, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.