Editorial

It is my pleasure to introduce Issue 45 of the Journal of Specialised Translation, JoSTrans, “Sport(s) translation / translating sport(s)”: a special issue dedicated to the captivating and underexplored intersection of sports and translation. Guest edited by Christophe Declercq and Gys-Walt van Egdom, this collection brings together research that positions sport as a rich site for translation research and scholarship: one characterised by immediacy, embodied communication, and the constant negotiation of meaning across linguistic and cultural boundaries.

In their introduction, Declercq and van Egdom lay out a compelling framework for understanding sports translation in its many dimensions: from the multilingual dynamics on the pitch to the mediated spectacle reaching global audiences. Drawing on Cronin (2014), they position sport as a translational arena, “a global cultural system shaped by mobility, exchange, and translation”, where language, gesture, affect, and identity converge in ways that challenge traditional conceptualisations of translation practice.

The eight research articles that follow explore this terrain from diverse angles. Pöchhacker maps the fragmented landscape of sports interpreting research, while Amaro and Jatobá examine how multilingual athletes in Macau navigate strategy and identity through embodied, multimodal and situated communication. Andrusiak, Blumczynski, and O’Connor turn to community sports settings in Ireland to reveal how informal translation practices foster inclusion among migrant populations. Moorkens and Pintado Gutiérrez document the development of audio description at Bohemians FC, showing how accessibility initiatives can transform the matchday experience and generate broader impact. Daems tests the impact of gender-inclusive language on quadball referee certification tests across multiple languages, while Jiang applies quantitative methods to distinguish translated from non-translated sports news. García Jiménez analyses the consecutive, simultaneous or hybrid interpretative acts of a Spanish sports journalist covering the Tour de France. Finally, Zapata, van Egdom, and Declercq make a thought-provoking case for integrating physical activity into translators’ professional lives.

The issue also features five book reviews covering recent publications on localisation, audiovisual translation, media translation, professional practice, and translationality:

• Jiménez-Crespo’s Localization in Translation (reviewed by Maumevičienė),

• Szarkowska and Jankowska’s Introducing Audiovisual Translation (reviewed by Perez),

• Kostopoulou and Charalampidou’s edited volume New Perspectives in Media Translation: Transcreation in the Digital Age (reviewed by Liang and Chen),

• Penet’s Working as a Professional Translator (reviewed by Yılmaz-Gümüş), and

• Blumczynski’s Experiencing Translationality: Material and Metaphorical Journeys (reviewed by Savchenkova).

Collections like this one expand our understanding of where translation happens and who performs it, reminding us that the boundaries of our discipline are always ripe for exploration. For opening up this particular terrain, I extend my sincere thanks to Christophe Declercq and Gys-Walt van Egdom for their dedication to bringing this collection together, to all the peer reviewers who contributed their expertise, and to the JoSTrans editorial team for their continued support.

We hope this issue inspires new conversations about the many ways translation shapes, and is shaped by, the world of sport.

David Orrego-Carmona, University of Warwick and University of the Free State