When can professional sport recommence safely during the COVID-19 pandemic? Risk Assessment and factors to consider

By Sean Carmody1,2, Andrew Murray1,3,4, Mariya Borodina5, Vincent Gouttebarge6,7, Andrew Massey8 The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and will have, profound effects on every person on earth. Measures advocated by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and put in place by National Governments, businesses and individuals will save millions of lives, but current movement restrictions (i.e., various […]

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Wellbeing in sport for Northern Ireland: National Action Plan 2018-2023

By Dr Gavin Breslin @breslin_g and Dr Paul Donnelly Positive engagement with sport is associated with an array of physical, emotional and psychosocial health benefits (Breslin et al, 2017). Emerging evidence suggests that competitive sport, by nature, can also contribute to poor mental health, in particular when athletes experience insufficient support (Bauman 2016). There is a growing […]

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New Eligibility Regulations for female athletes with “Differences of Sex Differentiation”

By Simon Franklin, Jonathan Ospina Betancurt @JonathanOspinaB and Dr Silvia Camporesi @silviacamporesi  New Eligibility Regulations for female athletes with “Differences of Sex Differentiation” have been put forward by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) today (26 April 2018) (https://www.iaaf.org/news/press-release/eligibility-regulations-for-female-classifica). The regulations say that athletes, including Semenya, will have to reduce and then maintain their testosterone levels […]

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What statistical analysis of observational performance data can tell us and what it cannot: the case of Dutee Chand vs IAAF vs AFI

By Simon Franklin, Jonathan Ospina Betancurt @JonathanOspinaB and Silvia Camporesi @silviacamporesi How can performance data resolve the arbitration of sensitive matters in the world of sports? In the absence of experimental data (i.e. clinical trials), researchers must build an argument based on associations in observational data. This data is often not widely available. Below, we’ll […]

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Concussion in sport: The Consensus

Concussion is certainly hot this week! Lots of news stories of variable quality. Today we review the International Consensus statement itself. This practical resource was established, using a consensus-based approach, at the 3rd International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Zurich, November 2008. It updates the recommendations of the 1st (Vienna) and 2nd (Prague) International Symposia on Concussion in […]

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