SafeSport: Perceptions of Harassment and Abuse From Elite Youth Athletes at the Winter Youth Olympic Games, Lausanne 2020.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) 2020 athletes' understanding and perceptions of harassment and abuse in sport and their knowledge of reporting mechanisms. DESIGN: A cohort study. SETTING: The Winter YOG2020 in Lausanne, Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS: Accredited athletes at the YOG2020. INTERVENTION: An athlete safeguarding educational program was delivered at the YOG2020. Participating athletes were encouraged to answer a survey embedded in the safeguarding educational materials during the YOG. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perception of occurrence of harassment and abuse as well as knowledge of the term "safe sport" and reporting mechanisms. RESULTS: The survey response rate of athletes attending the Safe Sport Booth was 69%. When asked to define Safe Sport, 10% of athletes at the YOG2020 correctly identified a sport environment free from harassment and abuse, 20% identified fair play/antidoping, and 19% safety. When presented with the definition of harassment and abuse, 30.4% expressed surprise, in contrast to 46% in the summer YOG2018. A third (32%) reported that harassment and abuse was either "likely" or "very likely" present in their sport, which was similar to the YOG2018 (34%). The group of athletes not knowing where to go to report harassment and abuse was greater than in the YOG2018 (26% vs 11%). There were no differences in responses between competitive sex (boys' vs girls' events) or type of sport (team vs individual). CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes of this study, such as the development of youth-friendly terminology and emphasizing mechanisms for reporting of harassment and abuse, should inform the development of safeguarding educational materials for youth athletes.

#SafeSport: safeguarding initiatives at the Youth Olympic Games 2018.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about athletes' understanding of safe sport and occurrence of harassment and abuse in elite youth sport. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the IOC Safe Sport educational experience at the Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Buenos Aires and to ascertain the athletes' (1) understanding of what constitutes harassment and abuse, (2) perception of the occurrence in their sport, and (3) knowledge of where to report. METHODS: Athletes visiting the IOC Safe Sport Booth answered a survey related to athletes' (1) understanding of harassment and abuse in sport, (2) perception of the occurrence of harassment and abuse in their sport, and (3) knowledge of where to report. Experts and volunteers answered an email survey on their experience. RESULTS: The response rate was 71.8%. When asked to define 'safe sport', the athletes mainly relate the concept to general physical and environmental safety, fair play and clean sport, rather than sport free from harassment and abuse. Almost half (46%) of the athletes expressed surprise by the definition of behaviours of harassment and abuse within sport. When asked if harassment and/or abuse occur in their sport, 47.5% reported 'no' or 'not likely', while 34% stated 'likely' or 'very likely'; 19% were 'unsure'. The majority (63%) of athletes knew where to seek help. Three quarters (71%) of the athletes rated the educational materials as 'good' to 'excellent'. The experts and volunteers believed the intervention would result in change in athletes' awareness, knowledge and behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: This multinational cohort of elite youth athletes is not knowledgeable of the concept of harassment and abuse in sport, despite there being a significant perception of occurrence of harassment and abuse in their sports.