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  • How do the new Olympic sports compare with the traditional Olympic sports? Injury and illness at the 2018 Youth Olympic Summer Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina

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Original research
How do the new Olympic sports compare with the traditional Olympic sports? Injury and illness at the 2018 Youth Olympic Summer Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina
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  1. Kathrin Steffen1,2,
  2. Torbjørn Soligard2,3,
  3. Margo Mountjoy4,5,
  4. Ignacio Dallo6,
  5. Alan Maximiliano Gessara7,
  6. Hernan Giuria8,
  7. Leonel Perez Alamino7,
  8. Joaquin Rodriguez7,
  9. Natalia Salmina9,
  10. Daniel Veloz7,
  11. Richard Budgett2,
  12. Lars Engebretsen1,2,10
  1. 1 Department of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sports Sciences, Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, Oslo, Norway
  2. 2 Medical and Scientific Department, International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, Switzerland
  3. 3 Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
  4. 4 Family Medicine, McMaster University Michael G DeGroote School of Medicine, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
  5. 5 Sports Medicine, FINA Bureau, Lausanne, Switzerland
  6. 6 Sanatorio Garay, Santa Fe, Argentina
  7. 7 British Hospital of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  8. 8 Sanatorio Mapaci, Rosario, Argentina
  9. 9 GE Healthcare, Moscow, Russian Federation
  10. 10 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
  1. Correspondence to Dr Kathrin Steffen, Department of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sports Sciences, Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, Oslo 806, Norway; kathrin.steffen{at}nih.no

Abstract

Objective To describe injuries and illnesses across traditional and new sports among the participating athletes of the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Summer Games (BA YOG) (6–18 October 2018).

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 manned by the BA YOG 2018 medical staff.

Results In total, 3.984 athletes from 206 NOCs were observed. NOCs and BA YOG 2018 medical staff reported 619 injuries and 334 illnesses, equalling 15.5 injuries and 8.4 illnesses per 100 athletes over the 13-day period. The eight new sports on the Youth Olympic programme (futsal, beach handball, karate, roller speed skating, kitesurfing, BMX freestyle, climbing and break dancing) fell in between the other sports with respect to injury and illness risk. Injury incidence was highest in rugby (43% of all rugby players), followed by boxing (33%) and badminton (24%), and lowest in swimming, archery, roller speed skating, equestrian, climbing and rowing (<5%). The highest incidences of illness were recorded in golf (20%), followed by triathlon (16%), beach volleyball and diving (both 14%). Of the illnesses, 50% affected the respiratory system and 15% the gastrointestinal system. Injury and illness incidences varied between continents with athletes representing Europe having significantly fewer injuries and illnesses compared with other continents, apart from a similar illness incidence to Asian athletes.

Conclusion The overall injury incidence of 15.5 injuries per 100 athletes was higher, while the overall illness incidence of 8.4 illnesses per 100 athletes was similar to previous youth and Olympic Games. The new sports did not differ significantly compared with the other sports with respect to injury and illness risk.

  • surveillance
  • injuries
  • illness
  • elite performance
  • young

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2019-101040

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @TSoligard, @margo.mountjoy, @Dvserrano, @larsengebretsen

    • Collaborators Leandro Noer Alassia, Carolina Bendel, Santiago Esteban, Raphael Medeiros Ganem, Alejandra Hintze, Belén Paolino, Roberto Peidro and Javier Swiatlo (all BA YOG organising medical committee).

    • Contributors All authors contributed to the study conception and design, data collection and interpretation. KS analysed the data and drafted the paper. All authors provided revisions and contributed to the final manuscript. KS is the guarantor of the study.

    • Funding The IOC funded the data collection of the study.

    • Competing interests KS is the coeditor the British Journal of Sports Medicine–Injury Prevention and Health Protection and has a consultant position at the IOC. TS works as scientific manager in the Medical and Scientific Department of the IOC. LE is head of Scientific Activities in the Medical and Scientific Department of the IOC, and editor of the British Journal of Sports Medicine and Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Ethics approval The study was reviewed by the Medical Research Ethics Committee of the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (2011/388).

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

    • Data availability statement All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information.