O.6.2-4 Please stop claiming that elite sport influences the general population to practice physical activity!

Abstract

Abstract Purpose The Paris 2024 Olympic Games Organisation Committee claims that “another impact of the Games on society is reflected in the increase in the practice of sports”. Decision-makers and policymakers still use the trickle-down effect to legitimize spending public money to support elite sport events and/or to finance elite sport programs/athletes. We therefore wanted to investigate if this effect was not a myth. Methods We conducted structured Boolean searches across five electronic databases (Pubmed, JSTOR, Web of Sciences, Sportdiscus, and PsycInfo) from January 2000 to August 2021 using the following equation: ((“elite” OR “high level” OR “performance”) OR (“Olympic*” AND *Games”) AND (“sport” OR “athletes” OR “players”)) AND ((“physical activit*” OR “sport” OR “exercise”) AND (“participation” OR “practice”)). We also conducted manual searches using the reference lists of the recovered records. Peer-reviewed studies in English were included if the effects of hosting elite sport events, elite sport success, and elite sport role-modelling on physical activity (PA) or sport practice in the general population were measured. Results We identified 12,563 articles and included 36 articles. Most studies used data from the United Kingdom (n = 10), Australia (n = 5), Canada (n = 4), and multiple countries (studies using data from several countries) (n = 4). Seven articles investigated more than one effect of elite sport. Most studies investigated the effect of hosting elite sport events (n = 27), followed by elite sport success (n = 16) and elite sport role-modelling (n = 3). Most studies did not observe an effect of hosting elite sport events, elite sport success, or elite sport role-modelling on PA/sport practice in the general population. We also did not observe any evidence of elite sport effects according to the age range, the geographical scale, or time. Conclusions There is no evidence supporting an effect of elite sport in increasing PA or sport participation in the general population. Decision-makers and policymakers should not use the tickle-down effect of elite sport to legitimize spending public money to support elite sport events and/or to finance elite sport programs/athletes. They should invest in other strategies such as those recommended by the World Health Organization.