Abstract
Background: The aims of this study were to analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent confinement on behaviors, perception of threat, stress, state of mind and training patterns among Olympic and Paralympic level athletes. Methods: Data gathering was performed utilizing an online questionnaire during imposed confinement. A correlational design with incidental sampling for convenience was used. All the variables were analyzed by age, gender, academic training, type of participation and sport specialty on a population composed of 447 Olympic (age: 26.0 ± 7.5 years) and 64 Paralympic (age: 28.4 ± 10.5 years) athletes. Results: The athletes trained more than twice as many hours before than during confinement. Most of the athletes recognized that their best athletic performance diminished due to the COVID-19 confinement but that will recover after the pandemic and its confinements. Almost half of the athletes declared they were more tired than normal and had difficulty sleeping, while more than half ate more or less as usual. Paralympic athletes reported they felt more capable to cope with personal problems and life events and felt less lonely during the confinement than the Olympians. The athletes from team sports reported to be more affected in their training routine than athletes of individual sports, seeing their athletic performance more affected. Athletes in individual sports felt more able to cope with personal problems than athletes in team sports. Female athletes were significantly more tired and reported more difficulty sleeping than male athletes. Conclusion: The situation caused by COVID-19 has had significant effects on the behavior, perception of threat, stress and training patterns of Olympic and Paralympic athletes preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It is necessary that sports institutions reinforce mechanisms of help for athletes during future situations of confinement.
Highlights
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus2 (SARS-CoV-2) [1]) was reported in China and eventually triggered an international public health emergency
The results showed that in the last month, the athletes in individual sports felt more capable of coping with personal problems than athletes in collective sports (Z = 2.596, p < 0.009, effect size [r] = 0.12, small)
Something comparable to the sports categories could happen regarding the sport specialty, as the athletes in individual sports felt more capable of coping with personal problems than athletes in collective sports, consistent with studies showing that the relationship between coping strategies and precompetitive anxiety is different between individual sport and collective sport [24], and in this sense, individual sports athletes may be more prepared to face confinement situations
Summary
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) [1]) was reported in China and eventually triggered an international public health emergency. On 11 March 2020, this coronavirus disease was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) [2], representing the most serious respiratory virus since the 1918 H1N1 influenza pandemic [3]. The aims of this study were to analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent confinement on behaviors, perception of threat, stress, state of mind and training patterns among Olympic and Paralympic level athletes. All the variables were analyzed by age, gender, academic training, type of participation and sport specialty on a population composed of 447 Olympic (age: 26.0 ± 7.5 years) and 64 Paralympic (age: 28.4 ± 10.5 years) athletes. Results: The athletes trained more than twice as many hours before than during confinement. Almost half of the athletes declared they were more tired than normal and had difficulty sleeping, while more than half ate more or less as usual
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