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Bodies have been claimed to be an ‘absent presence’ and touch ‘riskybusiness’ in physical education (PE). We have now witnessed how theseclaims are intensified in pandemic times of Covid-19, particularly incountries that have adopted extreme lockdown measures. This paperexplores how PE practices have become ‘touchless’ and bodies absentusing the theoretical concepts of risk and assemblage. The paperfocusses on a group of pre-service PE teachers who were keen onundertaking their PE practicum experience and who were forced toswitch to online mode. Data were collected through participantproduced drawings and comments on the drawings. Results suggestthat the pre-service teachers are experiencing a mix of emotions duringthis time, miss the physical contact with students and believe thesubject of PE is losing its identity as a consequence of the currentsituation. The conclusions of this study reveal a shift in the way thatbodies are being constituted as assemblages now, and the possibilitythat pre-service teachers are missing out on an important aspect of theirpracticum experiences because of the lack of direct contact withstudents. We also wonder if pre-service teacher education programmesshould put more emphasis on better preparing the students to teachonline, and what will be the long-term consequences in the teaching ofPE because of the current Covid-19 pandemic situation.

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