concept
Athletic Refusal
Athletic refusal names withdrawal, sit-down, opt-out, or retirement framed against expectation rather than mere inability. It becomes important when the public treats participation as owed and reads no as betrayal of team, nation, or spectacle. It preserves a boundary around what a result may demand after the score is settled. It differs from injury absence because refusal asserts choice; it differs from protest gesture when the primary act is non-performance rather than message, though the two often join.
