The COVID-19 pandemic is now a major global health issue, affecting world population and high-performance athlete too. The aim of the present research was to analyze the effect of psychological profile, academic schedule, and gender in the perception of personal and professional threat of Olympic and Paralympic athletes facing the 2021 Tokyo Olympiad in the actual COVID-19 crisis. We analyzed in 136 Olympic (26.4 ± 6.2 years) and 39 Paralympic athletes (31.8 ± 9.3 years) academic and sport variables, individual perceptions about COVID-19 crisis, personality, loneliness, psychological inflexibility, and anxiety. Paralympic athletes perceived higher negative impact in their training and performance by the confinement than Olympic athletes (+24.18, p < 0.005, r = 0.60). Neuroticism and psychological inflexibility presented the greatest negative feelings for female athletes (+32.59, p < 0.000, r = 0.13) and the perception that quarantine would negatively affect their sports performance. Finally professional athletes showed lower values in personality tests (Agreeableness factor) about COVID-19 crisis than non-professionals (−40.62, p < 0.012, r = 0.88).

The outbreak of COVID-19 has triggered a pandemic, jeopardizing global health. The sports world is also suffering enormous consequences, such as the suspension of the Olympic Games in Tokyo or, in chess, the cancelation of the World Candidates Tournament 2020. Chess is a sport characterized by high psychophysiological demands derived from long training durations, tournaments, and games, leading to mental, emotional, and physical stress. These characteristics could provide chess players a certain advantage in facing quarantine situations. This study aimed to analyze the effect of COVID-19 confinement on behavioral, psychological, and training patterns of chess players based on their gender, level of education, and level of chess played. We analyzed chess players (N: 450; age = 38.12 ± 14.01 years) in countries where confinement was mandatory: Professional players (N: 55; age = 43.35 ± 13), high-performance players (N: 53; age = 38.57 ± 13.46), competitive players (N: 284; age = 36.82 ± 13.91), and amateur players (N: 58; age = 39.10 ± 14.99). Results showed that chess players significantly decreased physical activity per day while increased chess practise during the confinement period. However, anxiety levels remained moderate despite the antistress effects of physical activity. Amateur players showed a significantly higher level of social alarm than professional and high-performance players. Moreover, professional players showed higher values of extraversion than high-performance players and amateur players. In neuroticism, professional players showed higher values than highperformance players. In addition, the professional players showed higher scores in psychological inflexibility than competitive players. Finally, chess players with the highest academic level showed higher levels of personal concern and anxiety due to COVID-19 as well as lower psychological inflexibility compared to those with a lower academic level. In conclusion, chess players, especially those with a higher academic level, might have adapted their psychological profile to fit confinement situations and the worrying levels of physical inactivity.

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Martínez-Patiño MJ, Mateos-Padorno C, Martínez-Vidal A, Sánchez AM, García JL, Díaz MP, Touriño CF. An approach to the biological, historical and psychological repercussions of gender verification in top level competitions. J. Hum. Sport Exerc. Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 307-321, 2010. Different kinds of disorders of sex development (DSD) have been observed in athletes from different countries along the history of sport. The detection of an abnormal chromosomal pattern or gonadal dysgenesis has been always associated to the gender verification tests which international sports institutions have performed from 1960s and abandoned as systematic practice in 2000. Such methods have been heavily criticized by specialists of different fields such as genetics, endocrinologists and psychologists. The use of a femininity control at the present days to detect possible males who fraudulently pretend to compete in female only events is inconsistent. The possible decision of the International Olympic Committee to establish special centers to manage future DSD cases is also discussed. A major concern on the confidentiality between doctors and patients and the establishment of care protocols for the psychological support of athletes in such delicate situations is needed. This ties altogether with the psychological and social repercussions of the gender verification on the lives of athletes with DSD. When cases of sex ambiguities are detected, issues such as the respect of privacy, the need of specific protocols to follow with flexible and diversified tests considering the particularity of each case as well as the psychological support of the athletes and their family have to be taken into account. Although health tests are needed for both men and women, DSD athletes should not be discriminated for their genetic pattern and they should be allowed to compete as it occurs with other athletes with genetic affections which do not involve the sex and that give them a phenotypical advantage over other athletes.

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