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Fit for the fight? Illnesses in the Norwegian team in the Vancouver Olympic Games
  1. Dag Vidar Hanstad1,
  2. Ola Rønsen2,
  3. Svein S Andersen3,6,
  4. Kathrin Steffen4,5,
  5. Lars Engebretsen4,5
  1. 1Department of Cultural and Social Studies, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway
  2. 2The Olympic Top Sports Program (Olympiatoppen), Oslo, Norway
  3. 3Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway
  4. 4Department of Sports Medicine, Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway
  5. 5IOC Medical Commission, Lausanne, Switzerland
  6. 6Norwegian Research Centre for Training and Performance, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway
  1. Correspondence to Dr Dag Vidar Hanstad, Department of Cultural and Social Studies, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo 0608, Norway; dag.vidar.hanstad{at}nih.no

Abstract

Background The development of strategies to prevent illnesses before and during Olympic Games provides a basis for improved health and Olympic results.

Objective (1) To document the efficacy of a prevention programme on illness in a national Olympic team before and during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games (OWG), (2) to compare the illness incidence in the Norwegian team with Norwegian incidence data during the Turin 2006 OWG and (3) to compare the illness incidence in the Norwegian team with illness rates of other nations in the Vancouver OWG.

Methods Information on prevention measures of illnesses in the Norwegian Olympic team was based on interviews with the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and the Chief Nutrition and Sport Psychology Officers, and on a review of CMO reports before and after the 2010 OWG. The prevalence data on illness were obtained from the daily reports on injuries and illness to the International Olympic Committee.

Results The illness rate was 5.1% (five of 99 athletes) compared with 17.3% (13 out of 75 athletes) in Turin (p=0.008). A total of four athletes missed one competition during the Vancouver Games owing to illness, compared with eight in Turin. The average illness rate for all nations in the Vancouver OWG was 7.2%.

Conclusions Although no definite cause-and-effect link between the implementation of preventive measures and the prevalence of illness in the 2010 OWG could be established, the reduced illness rate compared with the 2006 OWG, and the low prevalence of illnesses compared with other nations in the Vancouver OWG suggest that the preparations were effective.

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Footnotes

  • Funding Funding for the consensus meeting was provided by the International Olympic Committee.

  • Competing interest None.

  • Patient consent Obtained.

  • Ethics approval Ethics approval was provided by the Norwegian Social Science Data Services.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer-reviewed.