The Impact of COVID-19 Incidence on Motivation to Participate in a Triathlon.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many changes that have influenced the lives of people around the world and have left their mark in the world of sports, as well. Numerous restrictions resulted in the cancellation of the organization of many sports events, and the players themselves had restricted access to training. The main goal of the study was to identify the motivation to participate in a triathlon between athletes who have undergone COVID-19, those who have never been infected and those who do not know if they have ever caught the virus and to evaluate the differences between them. The assessment of the motives for participating in a sports event was conducted according to four types of orientation: social, experience, factual and results to check what benefits for well-being and self-improvement are brought about by participation in a triathlon as a mass sports event. The desire to feel unity, to develop passion, to integrate with other people and to get away from everyday life were the most important motives for those who have never been infected. It turns out that 100% of the respondents who had a history of COVID-19 disease indicated the desire to prove themselves. The desire to maintain good physical condition and health was reported by the majority of researched people, but again, all respondents (100%) who had been infected with COVID-19 indicated these motives as the most important.

Physical Activity and the Quality of Life of Female Students of Universities in Poland.

Physical activity increases human health potential and has an impact on achieving a higher quality of life in society. The aim of our research was to determine the relationship between a physically active lifestyle and the quality of life of female students in the context of demographic and social factors (major, age, marital status, professional activity). The research was conducted among a group of 285 women studying physical culture and social sciences in Poznan and Szczecin (Poland). Average age: 22.7 ± 4.90. The standardized World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHQOL-BREF) questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life of female students, and the original survey technique was used to study the lifestyle of people undertaking physical activity in the context of socio-demographic factors. Nonparametric statistics were applied in the analyses of the results. The effect size was calculated for each test: E2R for the Kruskal-Wallis H test, Glass rank biserial correlation (rg) for the Mann-Whitney U test, and Cramér's V for the χ2 test. The value of p ≤0.05 was assumed to be a significant difference. In the study, it was shown that a higher overall quality of life and health satisfaction, as well as better results in the physical, psychological, and environmental domains, were achieved by female students who assessed their lifestyle as physically active in comparison to those physically inactive. Higher scores of overall quality of life and satisfaction with health were found among female students of physical education and people participating in physical recreation, who also achieved better results in the environmental domain. Female students aged 23-25 had a higher quality of life in the physical, psychological, and social domains. Having a partner or spouse had a positive effect on the quality of life of female students defined by the social domain. A higher overall quality of life and satisfaction with health were characteristic of people who were employed. In the search of factors positively influencing the quality of life of society, it seems necessary to promote a physically active lifestyle among students. The observed differences in the quality of life and health satisfaction of female students of selected majors require targeted programs and interventions that improve the quality of their lives at various stages of their studies. Such activities increase the health potential of the individual and society, not only in the biological, but also psychosocial dimension.