There's a Worrying Link Between Newest Olympic Sports And Injury Rates

During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, karate and climbing were added to the list of sports.

Some of the new sports contributed a lot of the injuries.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) audits injuries and illnesses at each Olympics and they have just released their assessment for the Tokyo Olympics.

Over 11,000 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees took part in this celebrated global competition and their medical teams reported a total of 1035 injuries and 437 illnesses.

The average number of injuries and illnesses for athletes is nine.

There were less illnesses this year than in the past.

"This might largely be attributed to the extensive countermeasures put in place to mitigate COVID-19, effectively reducing transmission of COVID-19 and all respiratory infections," they wrote.

The injury rate was similar to that of the Rio Games in 2016 (8 percent), London 2012 (11 percent), and Beijing in 2008 (10 percent)

Boxing and the new sports of BMX racing and BMX freestyle had the highest incidence of injury.

The researchers note that there could be many reasons why athletes end up with more injuries, from weather conditions, venue, track or equipment design to awareness and adherence to injury prevention training.

The importance of ongoing, longitudinal monitoring of injuries and illnesses is emphasized by this.

The data should be used to reduce the risk in the future.

It's not surprising that 78 athletes were affected by heat illnesses because of the high temperatures and high relative humidity which can make it hard to deal with the heat.

The mild cases were thanks to the efforts of the team.

Recommendations for training in similar conditions in the lead up to the games can help athletes tolerate more extreme conditions.

During the events, there were provisions for hydration and shade.

The researchers think that future games should be held in cooler environments.

The athletes' chances of safely reaching their peak performance will be maximized by the reduction of the need for resources to implement exertional heat illness countermeasures from both event organizers and the athletes.

The research was published in a journal.