National Medical Teams during European Athletics Championships from 2009 To 2024: Composition, Gender Distribution, and Influence on Team Performance
Abstract Background Having the overall goal to help countries/teams in the preparation of their national medical teams for international athletics championships, we aimed to describe the composition of national medical teams, including gender distribution, and to explore its potential association wi...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SpringerOpen
2025-05-01
|
| Series: | Sports Medicine - Open |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-025-00864-3 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849309812395868160 |
|---|---|
| author | Pascal Edouard Spyridon Iatropoulos Karolina Velebova Ciara McCallion Marianna Kiss Pierre-Eddy Dandrieux Pedro Branco Jane Thornton Karsten Hollander |
| author_facet | Pascal Edouard Spyridon Iatropoulos Karolina Velebova Ciara McCallion Marianna Kiss Pierre-Eddy Dandrieux Pedro Branco Jane Thornton Karsten Hollander |
| author_sort | Pascal Edouard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Having the overall goal to help countries/teams in the preparation of their national medical teams for international athletics championships, we aimed to describe the composition of national medical teams, including gender distribution, and to explore its potential association with team performance, during European Athletics championships. We conducted a retrospective study covering 15 consecutive outdoor and indoor European Athletics championships between 2009 and 2024 including the national medical team members and athletes registered. We extracted the number of national medical team members by profession and gender, the ratio of athletes per national medical team member, and the number of medals per athlete. Potential associations were explored using Spearman’s correlations. Results During the 15 consecutive European Athletics championships between 2009 and 2024, 54 European Athletics member federations participated at one or more of the championships, corresponding to 726 country-participations, from which 68.5% had a national medical team. The national medical team included: 71.0% physiotherapists and 29.0% physicians, 20.7% women and 79.3% men. There was a median of 11 (range: 1–43) athletes per physiotherapist and 23 (range: 3–64) athletes per physician. There was a small but significant negative correlation between the number of medals per athlete and the ratio of athletes per medical team member (r=-0.33; p < 0.001). Conclusions During the European Athletics championships, approximately two-thirds of countries/teams had a national medical team, with a median of eight athletes per medical team member, with large variation between teams. Only one out of five medical team members were women. When the number of athletes per medical team member was higher, this was associated with a lower number of medals per athlete. These findings may be of help to assemble effective and successful medical teams in future championships. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bada1b79b22545b1957785cbe5dcd2cc |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2198-9761 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sports Medicine - Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-bada1b79b22545b1957785cbe5dcd2cc2025-08-20T03:53:57ZengSpringerOpenSports Medicine - Open2198-97612025-05-0111111110.1186/s40798-025-00864-3National Medical Teams during European Athletics Championships from 2009 To 2024: Composition, Gender Distribution, and Influence on Team PerformancePascal Edouard0Spyridon Iatropoulos1Karolina Velebova2Ciara McCallion3Marianna Kiss4Pierre-Eddy Dandrieux5Pedro Branco6Jane Thornton7Karsten Hollander8Inter-university Laboratory of Human Movement Science (LIBM EA 7424), University of Lyon, University Jean MonnetInter-university Laboratory of Human Movement Science (LIBM EA 7424), University of Lyon, University Jean MonnetBody Solution Clinic, Czech Track and Field Association, Czech Olympic TeamAthletics IrelandNational Institute for Sports MedicineInter-university Laboratory of Human Movement Science (LIBM EA 7424), University of Lyon, University Jean MonnetEuropean Athletics Medical & Anti Doping Commission, European Athletics Association (EAA)Medical and Scientific Department, International Olympic CommitteeInstitute of Interdisciplinary Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, MSH Medical School HamburgAbstract Background Having the overall goal to help countries/teams in the preparation of their national medical teams for international athletics championships, we aimed to describe the composition of national medical teams, including gender distribution, and to explore its potential association with team performance, during European Athletics championships. We conducted a retrospective study covering 15 consecutive outdoor and indoor European Athletics championships between 2009 and 2024 including the national medical team members and athletes registered. We extracted the number of national medical team members by profession and gender, the ratio of athletes per national medical team member, and the number of medals per athlete. Potential associations were explored using Spearman’s correlations. Results During the 15 consecutive European Athletics championships between 2009 and 2024, 54 European Athletics member federations participated at one or more of the championships, corresponding to 726 country-participations, from which 68.5% had a national medical team. The national medical team included: 71.0% physiotherapists and 29.0% physicians, 20.7% women and 79.3% men. There was a median of 11 (range: 1–43) athletes per physiotherapist and 23 (range: 3–64) athletes per physician. There was a small but significant negative correlation between the number of medals per athlete and the ratio of athletes per medical team member (r=-0.33; p < 0.001). Conclusions During the European Athletics championships, approximately two-thirds of countries/teams had a national medical team, with a median of eight athletes per medical team member, with large variation between teams. Only one out of five medical team members were women. When the number of athletes per medical team member was higher, this was associated with a lower number of medals per athlete. These findings may be of help to assemble effective and successful medical teams in future championships.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-025-00864-3Medical coverageMedical teamSurveillanceEpidemiologyTrack and fieldTop-level athletes |
| spellingShingle | Pascal Edouard Spyridon Iatropoulos Karolina Velebova Ciara McCallion Marianna Kiss Pierre-Eddy Dandrieux Pedro Branco Jane Thornton Karsten Hollander National Medical Teams during European Athletics Championships from 2009 To 2024: Composition, Gender Distribution, and Influence on Team Performance Sports Medicine - Open Medical coverage Medical team Surveillance Epidemiology Track and field Top-level athletes |
| title | National Medical Teams during European Athletics Championships from 2009 To 2024: Composition, Gender Distribution, and Influence on Team Performance |
| title_full | National Medical Teams during European Athletics Championships from 2009 To 2024: Composition, Gender Distribution, and Influence on Team Performance |
| title_fullStr | National Medical Teams during European Athletics Championships from 2009 To 2024: Composition, Gender Distribution, and Influence on Team Performance |
| title_full_unstemmed | National Medical Teams during European Athletics Championships from 2009 To 2024: Composition, Gender Distribution, and Influence on Team Performance |
| title_short | National Medical Teams during European Athletics Championships from 2009 To 2024: Composition, Gender Distribution, and Influence on Team Performance |
| title_sort | national medical teams during european athletics championships from 2009 to 2024 composition gender distribution and influence on team performance |
| topic | Medical coverage Medical team Surveillance Epidemiology Track and field Top-level athletes |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-025-00864-3 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pascaledouard nationalmedicalteamsduringeuropeanathleticschampionshipsfrom2009to2024compositiongenderdistributionandinfluenceonteamperformance AT spyridoniatropoulos nationalmedicalteamsduringeuropeanathleticschampionshipsfrom2009to2024compositiongenderdistributionandinfluenceonteamperformance AT karolinavelebova nationalmedicalteamsduringeuropeanathleticschampionshipsfrom2009to2024compositiongenderdistributionandinfluenceonteamperformance AT ciaramccallion nationalmedicalteamsduringeuropeanathleticschampionshipsfrom2009to2024compositiongenderdistributionandinfluenceonteamperformance AT mariannakiss nationalmedicalteamsduringeuropeanathleticschampionshipsfrom2009to2024compositiongenderdistributionandinfluenceonteamperformance AT pierreeddydandrieux nationalmedicalteamsduringeuropeanathleticschampionshipsfrom2009to2024compositiongenderdistributionandinfluenceonteamperformance AT pedrobranco nationalmedicalteamsduringeuropeanathleticschampionshipsfrom2009to2024compositiongenderdistributionandinfluenceonteamperformance AT janethornton nationalmedicalteamsduringeuropeanathleticschampionshipsfrom2009to2024compositiongenderdistributionandinfluenceonteamperformance AT karstenhollander nationalmedicalteamsduringeuropeanathleticschampionshipsfrom2009to2024compositiongenderdistributionandinfluenceonteamperformance |