Elite athletes: what lessons for the future can be learned from their responses to the social disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic?

In mid-March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic was declared, disrupting established routines and impacting every aspect of our lives. Sport as a social phenomenon was no exception. On the one hand, with the suspension and postponement of competitions and the various restrictions, the pandemic seemed to stop time, destroying the previously familiar ways of functioning of the sports sector, and forcing it to constantly reinvent, restructure and adapt. On the other hand, the changed situation highlighted the problems and inequalities that sport had faced long before and that the pandemic had mostly exacerbated, but not caused. In this review article, we identify the lessons and insights the pandemic has brought, especially for elite athletes. Because many scientific articles have emerged in connection with the pandemic, we select and review them according to our focus on elite athletes and summarise their findings. We then use those findings to derive guidelines that can serve top athletes as a tool in potentially similar situations in the future. Our proposed guidelines are divided into macro-, meso-, and micro-social levels, encompassing national and international, organizational and individual perspectives.

Sport and academic engagement of 1,387 Slovenian dual-career athletes before and during COVID-19 lockdown-what did we learn?

Introduction: Since the coronavirus disease outbreak in 2019, there have been several preventive measures and restrictions applied to minimize the transmission of the virus. While lockdown has affected our everyday lives, it has negatively impacted sport and athletes as well. Methods: 1,387 Slovenian dual-career (DC) athletes (47.4% females, 52.6% males) participated in the 22-item questionnaire to gather information on their sports and academic engagement before and during COVID-19 lockdown period. Half of the athletes were enrolled in education at the secondary level (n = 819, aged 15-18 years), while the others were enrolled in primary (n = 301, 8-14 years) and tertiary (n = 267, 19-36 years) education. All participants in the current study have a valid athlete categorization by the Slovenian Olympic Committee and are competing at either junior (31.7%), national (26.9%), prospective (29.5%), international (8.5%), world (2.3%) or Olympic (1.2%) level. Results: DC athletes spent less time on training (-4.7 h; p < 0.001), learning (-1.0 h; p < 0.001), exams (-0.9 h; p < 0.001), laboratory work (-0.6 h; p < 0.001), and other educational activities (-0.3 h; p < 0.001) during COVID-19 lockdown compared to period before the lockdown. Their training environment was changed so they trained either at home or outdoors. Results showed that indoor (-3.7 h; p < 0.001) and team sport athletes (-1.3 h; p < 0.001) trained less than outdoor and individual sports. Male athletes spent more time on training both before (1.3 h; p < 0.001) and during lockdown (1.3 h; p < 0.001) and other sport-related activities (1.3 h; p < 0.001). On the other hand, female athletes spent more time on studying both before (1.5 h; p < 0.001) and during lockdown (2.6 h; p < 0.001). Both sport and educational activities were influenced by athletes' age (p ≤ 0.017). Conclusion: Indoor and team sport athletes were more affected by the governmental measures than outdoor and individual sport athletes. Male athletes experienced a greater decline in learning time compared to female athletes. DC is shown to be beneficial for athletes even in times of COVID-19 lockdown, as DC athletes report smaller decline in motivation, shifting attention from sport to study and having fewer mental problems due to uncertain sports future. The feedback of the preventive measures could serve to assist policy makers and athlete's support staff to form and apply preventive measures that are more effective for DC athletes' training and education.

Toward an Integrated Understanding of the Youth Sport System.

The aim of the present article is to outline a heuristic model that facilitates movement toward an integrated understanding of the youth sport system. We define the youth sport system as the set of interdependent persons and contexts that influence and are influenced by an athlete in youth sport. Our model builds directly from a systems perspective, and its tenets of holism, feedback loops, and roles. Specifically, we argue that the persons and contexts that surround an athlete in youth sport should be examined collectively, self-correct over time, and take on certain functions that are negotiated over time. The model extends past contributions toward integration by outlining how proximal and distal processes within youth sport can be studied in a more unified way. Looking forward, research designed to capture the nuanced ways persons and contexts influence and are influenced by one another in youth sport will be best positioned to impact theory and practice in meaningful ways.

Teamwork: A Systematic Review of Implications From Psychosocial Constructs for Research and Practice in the Performance of Ultimate Frisbee Games.

Introduction: Ultimate Frisbee (UF) is a non-contact, challenging, and self-promoted team sport. Some factors such as the game environment and rules seem to influence athletes' behavior. Goals: Provide a robust systematic review (SR) of the psychological domains associated with UF. Methods: A SR according to Cochrane guidelines was completed. A reproducible search strategy was conducted by two independent reviewers in thirteen online databases: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, SCOPUS, B-On, SportDiscus, Scielo; APA PsycINFO, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences; Academic Search Complete; Medline (PubMed); ERIC; Google Scholar; Open Acess Thesis and Dissertations. The search occurred from 1st to 30th June 2020, and there were no limitations regarding the year of publication. Original papers that contained relevant data regarding psychological domains in the context of UF in English, Portuguese and Spanish were selected. The combination of the main terms "ultimate frisbee" and "sport psychology" was used in all databases. A total of 464 studies were identified and selected in the last phase of selection. After the Screening (n = 301) and Eligibility (n = 71) phases, a total of 30 potential papers were selected and classified. Finally, only four papers were qualified to be included in the final version of SR. Results: The psychological dimensions revealed in the present study were: leadership; basic psychological needs; behaviors; task cohesion and performance; intrateam communication; performance-avoidance goals; friendship goals; sportsmanship associated with goal-directed self-talk and self-regulated learning. Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first SR about UF. In reviewing all the findings in the studies, there is evidence that UF can promote teamwork, task cohesion, leadership, and increase friendship-approach goals. Conclusion: The results revealed that group goals and promoting teamwork significantly predicted social cohesion and that teamwork and task cohesion was mediated by communication. UF is characterized by communication between all players, whether they are from the same team or the opposing team. In summary, the current study revealed real-time information about the game and its rules. This is important because UF is one of the few team sports worldwide that are self-referred by participants. Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=169294, identifier: CRD42020169294.

How far is too far? Understanding identity and overconformity in collegiate wrestlers.

Athletes are expected to distinguish themselves from their peers, make sacrifices for the good of the game, play through pain and injury, and push physical and mental limits on the path to achieve their goals. Collectively, these expectations are known as the 'sport ethic' and while they are considered part of sport culture, athletes who overconform to them engage in behaviours that pose potentially serious health risks. To explore athlete identity and deviant overconformity, this study was designed within a psychocultural life story framework using a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm. Three Division I wrestlers provided interview data for analysis. Following provisional and narrative coding, a word cloud and creative nonfiction were used to present results. Participants described a process of overconformity to the sport ethic that supported and extended previous research. Results indicated that the participants believed that because athletes must push boundaries in order to find success, they cannot go 'too far'. Moreover, they reported that their athlete identity held significant personal and social meaning to the extent that they willingly engaged in forms of deviant overconformity. Recommendations for future research include studies with other sport populations (e.g. other sports, competitive levels, cultural backgrounds) and the development of an instrument to measure athletes' degrees of deviant overconforming. Practitioners may use this research to understand the health-compromising behaviours used by their clients in an effort to obtain athletic success, which may improve treatment planning and outcomes.

Legados de megaeventos esportivos: considerações a partir de uma perspectiva crítica / Legacies of sport mega-events: considerations from a critical perspective

Resumo Um dos principais argumentos em prol da realização de megaeventos esportivos é que os mesmos geram desenvolvimento econômico, social, político e esportivo para as cidades/países sede. O objetivo deste trabalho é o de fazer alguns apontamentos sobre a noção de desenvolvimento em pauta, tomando como base autores que vêm discutindo a temática. Constatamos que o tipo de desenvolvimento facilitado por estes eventos tem beneficiado prioritariamente agentes bem posicionados com acesso privilegiado à instâncias de decisão, em detrimento de um tipo de desenvolvimento que favoreça a população como um todo. A promoção de desenvolvimento em prol do bem comum só é possível na medida em que a decisão para se sediar, ou não, megaeventos esportivos, esteja alinhada com as metas de desenvolvimento de longo prazo das cidades e países sede. Esta decisão deve também ser condizente com a realidade sociocultural e com a capacidade de se fornecer a infraestrutura e os recursos os necessários para se hospedar o evento. A realização de megaeventos esportivos não produz resultados positivos automaticamente. Para que isto ocorra, faz-se necessário um planejamento minucioso. Por exemplo, ao se pensar a construção e estruturas esportivas para o evento e como elas serão utilizadas depois do mesmo deve se considerar questões tais como: Quem será responsável pela manutenção destas estruturas e que recursos serão disponibilizados para isto? Quem utilizará estas estruturas? Que tipo de suporte o púbico alvo necessita para que possa otimizar esta utilização? Tanto o processo de planejamento de legados bem como a execução e avaliação de ações para a construção dos mesmos devem envolver a participação da população que será diretamente afetada com a realização dos eventos.

Abstract One of the main arguments for the realization of sport mega-events is that they generate economic, social, political and sport legacies for the hosting cities / countries. The goal of this paper is to discuss the notion of development on the agenda of these events, based on authors who have been discussing this issue. We verified that the type of development facilitated by these events has been primarily benefiting well positioned agents with privileged access to decision makers at the expense of a type of development that could favor the population in general. The promotion of development for the common good is possible only to the extent that the decision to host - or not host - sport mega-events is aligned with the long-term development goals of the cities and the host countries. This decision should also be consistent with the host´s socio-cultural reality and its ability to provide the infrastructure and resources necessary to host the event. The realization of sport mega-events does not produce positive results automatically. For this to happen, it is necessary careful planning. For example, when considering the construction of sports venues and how they will be used after the event, people in charge should consider questions such as: Who will be responsible for maintaining them and which resources will be made available for this goal? Who will use these venues? What kind of support does the targeted pubic needs so that it can optimize their use? Both the process of legacy planning and the implementation and evaluation of actions to build this legacy should involve the participation of people who will be directly affected with the realization of the event.

Sport mega-eventos: pueden ser legados y el desarrollo equitativo y sostenible? / Mega-eventos esportivos: podem desenvolvimento e legado ser equalitários e sustentáveis? / Sport mega-events: can legacies and development be equitable and sustainable?

Sport mega-events (SMEs) involve struggles to determine the definition of legacy and the outcome priorities that guide legacy planning, funding, and implementation processes. History shows that legacies reflect the interests of capital, and legacy benefits are enjoyed primarily, if not exclusively, by powerful business interests, a few political leaders, and organizations that govern high performance sports. This paper addresses challenges faced by cities and countries that host SMEs, and shows that fair and equitable legacies and developmental outcomes are achieved only when the voices and interests of the general population are taken into account and given priority during the process of planning, funding and implementation. It also explains how full representation in the process of defining and achieving legacies and developmental outcomes may be undermined by populist beliefs about the power of sport.

Os mega-eventos esportivos (MEE) envolvem lutas para se determinar a definição de legado e as prioridades que guiam os processos de planejamento, financiamento e processos de implementação de resultados. A história mostra que os legados refletem os interesses do capital, e os benefícios são usufruidos principalmente, se não exclusivamente, por interesses empresariais poderosos, por alguns líderes políticos e por organizações que governam o esporte de alto rendimento. Este artigo aborda os desafios enfrentados pelas cidades e países que hospedam MEE e demonstra que legados justos e equalitários e resultados em termos de desenvolvimento são alcançados somente quando as vozes e os interesses da população em geral são ouvidos e considerados como prioridade durante o processo de planejamento, financiamento e implementação. Ele também demonstra que a representação plena no processo de definição e prossecução de legados e a consecução de resultados em termos de desenvolvimento podem ser prejudicados por crenças populares sobre o poder do esporte.

Los mega-eventos deportivos (DME) implican luchas para determinar la definición del legado y las prioridades que guían los procesos de planificación, financiación financiamiento y ejecución de los resultados. La historia muestra que los legados reflejan los intereses del capital y que los beneficios son disfrutados principalmente, si no exclusivamente por los intereses empresariales poderosos, por algunos líderes políticos y por las organizaciones que dirigen los deportes de alto rendimiento. Este artículo aborda los desafíos que enfrentan las ciudades y los países anfitriones de los DME, y demuestra que legados justos y equitativos y resultados en sentido de desarrollo se logran solamente cuando se considera y se da prioridad a las voces e intereses de la población en general durante el proceso de planificación, financiamiento e implementación. Él también demuestra que la representación plena en el proceso de definición y consecución de los legados y los resultados en sentido de desarrollo pueden ser socavadas por las creencias populares sobre el poder del deporte.