Abstract
Participating or winning a medal in major track and field (athletics) competitions is the goal of every athlete. However, health problems can impair sports performance and affect this dream. Therefore, we present ten tips to help hurdle the challenges of illness/injury at major athletics championships: (1) Prepare for travel (medical checking, vaccine, time-zone, jet lag, culture, food habits…), (2) Respect athlete characteristics and discipline specificity (sex, endurance/explosive), (3) Educate athletes and their entourages regarding prevention, (4) Vigilance of painful symptoms and subclinical illness markers, (5) Avoid infection risk (washing hands, safe food and drink, avoid contact with sick people…), (6) Train appropriately and optimally (physical conditioning, technical training, load management, and psychological preparation), (7) Health status (history of previous injuries, well-being in the month before championships), (8) Lifestyle (good sleep, regular hydration and nutrition with safe water/food, regular fruits and vegetables, improve recovery strategies…), (9) Environmental considerations (heat, cold, air cleaning, changes or climatic conditions…), (10) Safety (equipment, rules, own-practice in athletics, and extra-sport activities). These ten tips “PREVATHLES” are based on our field experience in addition to existing epidemiological and experimental literature in athletics and other sports. Although there is currently no scientific evidence for their efficacy, sound judgement, and logical practice provide a strong basis, and given the low risk of using them in the benefit/risk balance, we suggest athletes and those around them follow these ten tips to limit the impact of injury/illness on championship performance.
Highlights
Participating at major athletics events, such as Olympic Games, World or Continental Championships, is the goal for all track and field athletes, aiming for optimal performance and winning medals
Athlete health status in the month before the championships has been reported to influence the occurrence of new injuries and/or illnesses during the championships period (Alonso et al, 2015; Edouard et al, 2015c; Timpka et al, 2017). These epidemiological results are fundamental to improve the development of more focused injury and illness prevention research and to implement preventative measures based on objective measures of the problem
Using an evidence based approach combining evidence from other sports and our experience in athletics, we present ten tips with materials/resources (Barton and Merolli, 2019) that might help to reduce the risk of injury and illness in championship preparation and competition
Summary
Participating at major athletics events, such as Olympic Games, World or Continental Championships, is the goal for all track and field (athletics) athletes, aiming for optimal performance and winning medals. Athlete health status in the month before the championships has been reported to influence the occurrence of new injuries and/or illnesses during the championships period (Alonso et al, 2015; Edouard et al, 2015c; Timpka et al, 2017).
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