Edinburgh Napier University

  Background: sports injury and illness surveillance is the
first step in injury and illness prevention, and is important
for the protection of both athlete health and performance
in major competitions.
Aim: to identify the prevalence, severity nature and
causes of athlete injuries and illnesses in the Great Britain
Olympic Team (TeamGB) during the Sochi 2014 Winter
Olympic Games.
Methods: the observational prospective cohort study
followed the Great Britain Injury/Illness performance
project surveillance methodology and obtained information on injuries and illnesses that occurred during the games between 30 January and 23 February 2014 in TeamGB athletes (n=56).
Results; among the 56 TeamGB athletes, there were 27
injuries and 11 illnesses during the Olympic Games
period. This equated to 39% sustaining at least one injury
and 18% at least one illness, with an incidence of 48.2
injuries and 19.6 illnesses per 100 athletes, respectively.
Of all injuries and illnesses, 9% and 7%, respectively,
resulted in time loss. The risk of sustaining an injury was
highest for freestyle skiing, skeleton and snowboarding;
and lowest for curling, biathlon and Alpine skiing (with
no reported injuries); with the lower limb being the most
commonly injured location. Respiratory system illnesses
were most frequently reported overall, and older female
athletes were the ones most affected by illness.
Conclusions: the risk of injury was double the risk of
illness for TeamGB athletes. Overall, the rate of time-loss
issues was low. Methodological considerations are
important when interpreting data, and prevention
strategies should focus on those issues causing the
greatest risk, in terms of prevalence and severity, to
athlete health and performance.