The Youth Olympic Games and a new awakening for sports and exercise medicine

Sport injuries and illnesses during the first Winter Youth Olympic Games 2012 in Innsbruck, Austria

“…There is ample evidence that sport participation in children and adolescents is beneficial from a public health perspective,1–3 although negative side effects on direct and indirect costs and returns to sports arise from injuries during sport participation 4 5. The Youth Olympic Games for athletes aged 14–18 years, with its cultural and educational emphasis, is one approach of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to showcase high-level sports as a catalyst improving the health of the youth 5.…”

“…The Youth Olympic Games for athletes aged 14–18 years, with its cultural and educational emphasis, is one approach of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to showcase high-level sports as a catalyst improving the health of the youth 5. Whereas about 3500 athletes from more than 200 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the first Summer Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore in August 2010, about 1000 athletes from 69 NOCs participated in the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria in January 2012.…”

“…With these systematic injury registrations, high-risk sports will be identified, including their most common and most severe injuries to ensure new knowledge on injury trends over time to form the basis for further research on injury risk factors and injury mechanisms and, finally, to develop injury prevention programmes 5. However, as injury risk and patterns of young elite athletes may vary from their older professional counterparts, injury surveillance of young elite athletes is needed to gain knowledge about the injury risk among this highly competitive population 7.…”

“…However, these studies, mainly on injuries in soccer, represented only one-fifth of all sports included in the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore 7. In winter sports, even fewer data on injury risk are published on this age group 5 7. Also, illnesses and health-related factors have to be considered among winter sports athletes who train and compete most time of the year under cold-air exposure 8 9.…”

A novel antidoping and medical care delivery model at the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games (2014), Nanjing China

“…Through the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) promotes physical activity in adolescents 3. The 2nd Summer YOG held in Nanjing, China, in 2014, included 3800 athletes between the ages of 15–18 years from over 200 countries, competing over 12 days in 28 sports and 222 events.…”