WOA Seeks to Study Effects of Olympic Life

(ATR) The World Olympians Association is launching a study to examine the effects of high performance sport on athletes later in life.

WOA announced the initiative during the 2018 SportAccord Convention in Thailand this week. The study has the support of the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission, and will work to help better help Olympians after their athletic careers end.

"Very little has been done to work on how to remain in good health after the end of a career," Joel Bouzou, WOA president, said at a briefing about the initiative. "This is the proposal to set up the right strategies for former athletes, especially Olympians to remain in good health after their career."

Bouzou said WOA wants to reach 10,000 Olympians with a questionnaire for the study.

At SportAccord International Ski Federation Secretary General Sarah Lewis and World Rowing President Jean-Christophe Rolland completed the study, the first two data points for the WOA.

Debbie Palmer, associate professor and researcher in sports injury and illness prevention at Edinburgh Napier University, will lead the study according to the WOA. Edinburgh Napier University is collaborating with the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre; University of Nottingham; Arthritis Research UK, Centre for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis; University of Calgary; University of Alberta; the IOC Medical and Scientific Department; and the Institute for Sport, Exercise and Health, London on the initiative.

WOA chief executive Mike Miller told journalists that the study will comprise of athletes from 33 Summer Olympic sports as well as all Winter Olympic sports. No names will be attached to the final data from the questionnaire.

The WOA is targeting the study to be published in the British Journal of Sports Science, after it is peer reviewed. The study will then be sent to International Federations around the world for advice on "recommendations and guidelines" to athletes, according to Miller.

"Elite athletes are known to be exposed to high impact training and competition loads, leading to increased physiological demands that can be associated with a heightened risk of injury," Palmer said of the study.

"By encouraging as many Olympians as possible to participate we will build a better picture of post-retirement life for those who have competed at the highest levels of sport and hopefully greatly increase the body of knowledge in this area."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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