The big sports events—How does sports medicine and sports science contribute?

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Many international and momentous sporting events will take place this year, and depending on whom you ask, the rank order of importance will be described quite differently. Without getting into that debate, two events that spring to mind for this year are the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver in February, and for those who do not take kindly to the cold weather, the FIFA World Cup (Soccer) in South Africa in June/July. In these events we are likely to see world-class performers at their absolute best. We will see victory, we will see defeat, and we will see elation and disappointment. One thing, however, that is often forgotten, is that we will see the product of many years of training, effort, commitment, and passion to perform on a world stage. Let us also not lose sight of the fact that many of these performers in such events reap significant financial reward from their efforts, whilst others keep on persisting with minimal funding, but still with that same goal of being the best they can.

So how does sports medicine and sports science contribute to the achievements we see at such world-class sporting events? The immediate answer that most people give is that the sports medicine personnel assist with injuries when they occur and that the sports scientists provide expertise in training and recovery methods. Yes, I know this is a very simplistic answer, but it is (at least from the quick straw poll that I conducted) a common response. What is ignored in such responses is the enormous and long-term effort that is put into the research that underpins all the injury prevention, injury rehabilitation, training methods, recovery methods, and skill acquisition that is required for these elite athletes. I wonder what sport really would be like without the advantage of all this support research and intervention. I am quite positive that there would still be some of the memorable performances based on guts, determination, and raw talent that we used to see in the true amateur days of sport. At the same time, however, I am convinced that a lot of the performance we see in the present day has been enhanced by the medicine and science that has been developed.

We demonstrate very well in this issue of the journal the medicine and science behind events such as the FIFA World Cup and the Winter Olympic Games. For example, we have included 5 papers that address different aspects of performance and injury in soccer. The paper by Gianotti and colleagues examines the efficacy of coach education on injury prevention in soccer, le Gall and colleagues looked at fitness and anthropometric characteristics with elite youth soccer players, Weston and colleagues studied the performance of soccer referees and the effect of ageing, Mallo and colleagues examined the activity profile of female soccer referees, and Carling and Bloomfield investigated player work-rate in professional soccer. In terms of winter sports, Goulet and colleagues investigated the relationship between injury severity and skill level in skiers and snowboarders.

Other papers in this issue address many other important aspects of large international events. For example, Scalco and colleagues investigated screening methods for hydroxyethyl starch doping in sport, a practice that was banned by the International Olympic Committee in 2000. Our many other papers in this bumper issue cover aspects of sports medicine, injury, sports science, nutrition, biomechanics, motor control and learning, and the role of physical activity in health.

Enjoy being part of or watching the major sporting events for this year, and remember to spare a thought for the amazing amount of medicine and science that has gone into the end product that we all so much love.