title: Sports injuries and illnesses during the Winter Olympic Games 2010.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Identification of high-risk sports, including their most common and severe injuries and illnesses, will facilitate the identification of sports and athletes at risk at an early stage.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To analyse the frequencies and characteristics of injuries and illnesses during the XXI Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver 2010.
  
  
  METHODS
  All National Olympic Committees' (NOC) head physicians were asked to report daily the occurrence (or non-occurrence) of newly sustained injuries and illnesses on a standardised reporting form. In addition, the medical centres at the Vancouver and Whistler Olympic clinics reported daily on all athletes treated for injuries and illnesses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Physicians covering 2567 athletes (1045 females, 1522 males) from 82 NOCs participated in the study. The reported 287 injuries and 185 illnesses resulted in an incidence of 111.8 injuries and 72.1 illnesses per 1000 registered athletes. In relation to the number of registered athletes, the risk of sustaining an injury was highest for bobsleigh, ice hockey, short track, alpine freestyle and snowboard cross (15-35% of registered athletes were affected in each sport). The injury risk was lowest for the Nordic skiing events (biathlon, cross country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined), luge, curling, speed skating and freestyle moguls (less than 5% of registered athletes). Head/cervical spine and knee were the most common injury locations. Injuries were evenly distributed between training (54.0%) and competition (46.0%; p=0.18), and 22.6% of the injuries resulted in an absence from training or competition. In skeleton, figure and speed skating, curling, snowboard cross and biathlon, every 10th athlete suffered from at least one illness. In 113 illnesses (62.8%), the respiratory system was affected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  At least 11% of the athletes incurred an injury during the games, and 7% of the athletes an illness. The incidence of injuries and illnesses varied substantially between sports. Analyses of injury mechanisms in high-risk Olympic winter sports are essential to better direct injury-prevention strategies.
authors.affiliation: IOC Medical Commission, Lausanne, Switzerland. lars.engebretsen@medisin.uio.no.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Engebretsen
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Steffen
authors.forename: Juan Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aubry
authors.forename: Jiri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dvorak
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Junge
authors.forename: Willem
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meeuwisse
authors.forename: Margo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mountjoy
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Renström
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000328:Adult; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D001955:British Columbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003219:Confidentiality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D017678:Sex Distribution; D038161:Snow Sports / Q000293:injuries*; D013997:Time Factors