title: 2016 Rio Olympic Games: Can the schedule of events compromise athletes' performance?
abstract: The organizing committee of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games recently announced that some of the preliminary and final competitions will be held at night. The present article discusses the potential harmful effects of these late-night competitions on sleep, circadian rhythms and athletic performance during the Olympic Games. Specifically, night-time competition could lead to injury and may compromise an athlete's decision-making, attentional, physiological and other processes. Consequently, these impacts could negatively affect the performance of athletes and their teams. Thus, it is suggested that technical commissions take special care when creating strategies to minimize harm to the athletes by considering factors such as light exposure, melatonin intake, sleep hygiene and scheduled naps, and training at local competition time. Furthermore, it is necessary for specialists in chronobiology and sleep to engage with members of the national teams to develop an activity schedule for physical, technical, tactical and psychological preparation that accounts for circadian rhythms, thereby creating the best possible environment for the athletes to achieve their ideal performance.
authors.affiliation: a Escola de Educação Física, Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional (EEFFTO) , Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais , Belo Horizonte , MG , Brazil.
authors.forename: João Paulo P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Rosa
authors.affiliation: a Escola de Educação Física, Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional (EEFFTO) , Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais , Belo Horizonte , MG , Brazil.
authors.forename: Dayane F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: a Escola de Educação Física, Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional (EEFFTO) , Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais , Belo Horizonte , MG , Brazil.
authors.forename: Andressa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: a Escola de Educação Física, Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional (EEFFTO) , Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais , Belo Horizonte , MG , Brazil.
authors.forename: Mário Antônio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: de Moura Simim
authors.affiliation: a Escola de Educação Física, Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional (EEFFTO) , Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais , Belo Horizonte , MG , Brazil.
authors.forename: Varley T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: a Escola de Educação Física, Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional (EEFFTO) , Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais , Belo Horizonte , MG , Brazil.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Noce
authors.affiliation: a Escola de Educação Física, Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional (EEFFTO) , Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais , Belo Horizonte , MG , Brazil.
authors.forename: Marco Túlio
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: de Mello
mesh_terms: D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D056352:Athletes; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008550:Melatonin / Q000378:metabolism; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013995:Time
chemical_list: D008550:Melatonin
keywords: Athletic performance; circadian rhythm; sports