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Original research
Olympic Games during nationwide lockdown: sports injuries and illnesses, including COVID-19, at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
  1. Torbjørn Soligard1,
  2. Debbie Palmer2,3,
  3. Kathrin Steffen4,
  4. Alexandre Dias Lopes5,
  5. Natalia Grek6,
  6. Xuan He7,
  7. Yan Wang7,
  8. Marie-Elaine Grant8,
  9. Brett G Toresdahl9,
  10. Matthias Gilgien10,
  11. Richard Budgett1,
  12. Lars Engebretsen1,4
  1. 1Medical and Scientific Department, International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, Switzerland
  2. 2Edinburgh Sports Medicine Research Network, Institute for Sport, PE and Health Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  3. 3UK Collaborating Centre on Injury and Illness Prevention in Sport, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  4. 4Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, Department of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway
  5. 5Department of Physical Therapy, Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  6. 6Moscow, Russian Federation
  7. 7Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
  8. 8Institute of Sport and Health, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
  9. 9Department of Orthopaedics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
  10. 10Department of Physical Performance, Norwegian School of Sports Sciences, Oslo, Norway
  1. Correspondence to Dr Torbjørn Soligard, Medical and Scientific Department, International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, Switzerland; torbjorn.soligard{at}olympic.org

Abstract

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.

  • Surveillance
  • Illness
  • Covid-19
  • Sporting injuries

Data availability statement

All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as online supplemental information.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2023-107412

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    Data availability statement

    All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as online supplemental information.

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @TSoligard, @DebbiePalmerOLY, @bretttoresdahl, @larsengebretsen

    • Contributors TS, DP, KS, ADL, NG, XH, YW, M-EG, BGT, RB and LE contributed to the study conception and design, and data collection. TS and DP analysed the data. TS drafted the paper. All authors provided revisions and contributed to results interpretation and the final manuscript. TS is the guarantor.

    • Competing interests TS works as scientific manager in the Medical & Scientific Department of the International Olympic Committee. Kathrin Steffen is coeditor of the British Journal of Sports Medicine—Injury Prevention and Health Protection. RB is director of the Medical and Scientific Department of the International Olympic Committee. LE is Head of Scientific Activities in the Medical and Scientific Department of the International Olympic Committee, and Editor of the British Journal of Sports Medicine and associate editor of Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. BGT is an associate editor of the British Journal of Sports Medicine and was a member of the medical staff for the United States at Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research. Refer to the Methods section for further details.

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

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.