Many sport programs aim to positively impact participants’ lives, but there is little understanding of how sport leads to those changes. The purpose of this study was to examine an extraordinary experience and the participants’ interpretations of that experience as well as their feelings of personal transformation through the experience. In doing so, the authors developed an understanding of how sport can be used to create meaningful life changes at the individual level. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 past participants of a long distance cycling ride that raised money and awareness for cancer research. Data analysis included three rounds of coding. Participants reported that the unusualness and sense of newness of the ride, the high levels of emotional intensity experienced, and the deep interpersonal connections developed led to a sense of empowerment and new meaning and purpose in life. Results indicate that extraordinary experiences contribute to lasting personal transformations, beyond intended behavior changes, within sport and out of sport. The characteristics of extraordinary experiences that contribute to personal transformation are discussed, as are suggestions for sport managers to leverage extraordinary experiences to create positive personal transformations.

许多体育项目旨在积极影响参与者的生活，但对于体育如何导致这些变化知之甚少。这项研究的目的是检验一种非凡的体验，以及参与者对这种体验的理解以及他们通过体验获得的个人转变的感觉。通过这样做，作者对如何利用运动创造个人意义上的有意义的生活变化有了一种理解。对32位过去的长途骑行参与者进行了半结构式访谈，这为癌症研究筹集了资金并提高了他们的认识。数据分析包括三轮编码。参加者报告说，该游乐设施异常且新颖，体验到很高的情感强度，人与人之间深厚的人际关系不断发展，赋予了人们一种授权感，并赋予了生活新的意义和目的。结果表明，非凡的经历有助于持久的个人转变，超越了预期的行为改变，运动范围内和运动范围之外。讨论了有助于个人转变的非凡体验的特征，以及体育经理利用非凡体验创造积极的个人转变的建议。