Winter sports are dangerous
Friday September 10, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

A new report out into the last Winter Olympics shows which events are the most risky and how athletes are most likely to be injured. There are growing concerns in some areas over the high levels of injury.

Over 1 in 10 athletes at the recent Vancouver Games sustained an injury.

11.2% to be precise.

The most serious was the tragic death of the luge competitor, Nodar Kumaritashvili from Georgia, on the eve of the opening of The Games.

It cast a long shadow over the start of The Games and an investigation has led to changes in the track for the next Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

Statistically luge is actually one of the safest of all the winter sports.

The most dangerous winter are bobsleigh, ice hockey, short track skating, alpine freestyle and snowboard cross. 15% - 35% of registered athletes were affected in each of these sports.

More dangerous than it looks

The injury risk was lowest for the Nordic skiing events, biathlon, cross country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, luge, curling, speed skating and freestyle moguls.

Safer than it looks

Less than 5% of registered athletes were injured in these sports.

23% of the injuries meant athletes had to pull out of training and even the Games themselves.

The survey questioned 2,567 athletes; 1,045 women and 1,522 men.

More women,13%, were injured than men, 9%.

There were 287 injuries and 185 illnesses in total.

That's a percentage figure of 11.2% and 7.2% per 1,000 registered athletes.

The authorities believe it is vital to keep an exact tally on injuries so it can develop strategies for keeping the sports as safe and free from injury as they can.

Winter sports are inherently dangerous as we learnt this month with the death of a Russian snowboard athlete in Saas-Fee and last season there were deep concerns about the level of injuries to alpine ski racers.

FIS set up a special commission to look at the issue.

In Vancouver the most common injuries were to the head, spine and knee.

The study has been published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

For the spirit of the mountains