At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the urban dance style “Destroy‘, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics saw athletes reach new heights with the addition of seven new sports, including karate and climbing.
But while overall injuries at the Tokyo Olympics were similar to previous Games, the researchers found that several new sports accounted for a disproportionately large share of injuries.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) audits injuries and illnesses at each Olympics to protect the health of athletes. A report released in 2022 will document the incidence of injuries and illnesses at the Tokyo Games.
11,315 athletes from 206 countries participated National Olympic Committees Medical teams for athletes taking part in the Tokyo Summer Olympics from July 23 to August 8, 2021, reported a total of 1,035 injuries and 438 illnesses reported over the 17-day period.
On average, there were about nine injuries and four illnesses per 100 athletes.
Eighteen players (less than 0.2%) were affected by COVID-19, but the overall number of cases was lower than previous years.
“This may be mainly due to the effective reduction in transmission of COVID-19 and all respiratory infections due to the extensive measures implemented to limit the spread of COVID-19,” IOC sports scientist Torbjörn Solligard and his colleagues said. write.
The overall injury rate was 9%, similar to the 2016 Rio Games (8%), the 2012 London Games (11%) and the 2008 Beijing Games (10%).
The highest rate of injuries occurred in boxing (27%), followed by emerging sports such as BMX racing (27%), BMX freestyle (22%), skateboarding (21%) and karate (19%).
There are many possible reasons why athletes participating in new sports are suffering more injuries. The researchers point out – From weather conditions, venue, track and equipment design to awareness and adherence to injury prevention training.
“This highlights the importance of ongoing, longitudinal monitoring of injuries and illnesses, as such variables may change over time,” they said. write.
Sports officials “must use this data to mitigate risk at future events.”
Heat exhaustion also affected 78 athletes, which is not surprising given that temperatures were over 30°C and relative humidity was over 70%, making it extremely difficult for athletes to physiologically cope with heat.
Fortunately, symptoms were mild, which the team attributed to mitigation measures.
This includes changing the location of some events, Recommendations for training in similar conditions Research shows that pre-game training can help players Withstands harsher conditions.
There were also amenities such as hydration and shade during the event, and ice baths after the event.
The researchers praised the Olympics for its successful handling of COVID-19 but recommended that future games be held in cooler conditions, something that did not happen this time.
“This will reduce the need for resources to implement exercise heatstroke prevention strategies (from both event organizers and athletes) and maximize the chances that athletes will be able to perform at their best safely,” Soligard and team said. Conclusion.
This study British Journal of Sports Medicine.
A previous version of this article was published in December 2022.
