TY - JOUR
AU - Soligard, Torbjørn
AU - Palmer, Debbie
AU - Steffen, Kathrin
AU - Lopes, Alexandre Dias
AU - Grek, Natalia
AU - He, Xuan
AU - Wang, Yan
AU - Grant, Marie-Elaine
AU - Gilgien, Matthias
AU - Budgett, Richard
AU - Engebretsen, Lars
AU - Toresdahl, Brett G.
PY - 2023
DA - October
TI - Olympic Games during nationwide lockdown: Sports injuries and illnesses, including COVID-19, at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
JO - British Journal of Sports Medicine
EP - 17
VL - 58
IS - 1
DO - https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2023-107412
AB - Objective The objective of this study is to describe the incidence of injuries and illnesses sustained during the Beijing Winter Olympic Games from 4 February 2022 to 20 February 2022. Methods We recorded the daily number of athlete injuries and illnesses (1) through the reporting of all National Olympic Committee (NOC) medical teams and (2) in the polyclinic and medical venues by the Beijing 2022 medical staff. Results In total, 2848 athletes (1276 women, 45%; 1572 men, 55%) from 91 NOCs were followed prospectively for the occurrence of injury and illness. NOC and Beijing 2022 medical staff reported 289 injuries and 109 illnesses, equalling 10.1 injuries and 3.8 illnesses per 100 athletes over the 17-day period. The injury incidence was highest in ski halfpipe (30%), ski big air (28%), snowboard slopestyle (23%) and ski slopestyle (22%), and lowest (1%–2%) in curling, alpine mixed team parallel slalom, Nordic combined and alpine super-G. The illness incidence was highest in ski aerials (10%), skeleton (8%), cross-country skiing (8%) and Nordic combined (7%). In the study period, COVID-19 affected 32 athletes, accounting for 29% of all illnesses affecting 1.1% of all athletes. Conclusion Overall, 10% of the athletes incurred an injury and 4% an illness during the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. The incidence of illnesses overall, which was the lowest yet recorded in the Winter Olympic Games, and COVID-19 was mitigated through comprehensive countermeasures.
PB - BMJ Publishing Group
UR - https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/af605a96-6ed4-48de-993a-9a3e4a4cac83
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
KW - Diet, healthy weight and physical activity
ER