Berlin 2009 logo (© c)
The IAAF is pleased to announce that at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Berlin, Germany (15 to 23 Aug) it is again implementing an important study on injuries and illness in athletics. The IAAF is committed to working hard in making the sport safer for the athletes and is increasingly emphasising work in this area.
This “injury and illness prevention study” will provide a large amount of useful information to be used by the IAAF when making recommendations to athletes and their support personnel around the world regarding prevention measures.
The Berlin study will record every single injury or illness which occurs during the championships and then use this statistical information to discover which types of injury occur during the IAAF World championships, and the frequency of these injuries and illnesses.
The study which is being assisted by FIFA and the IOC follows on from a number of other similar study including the Osaka World Championships in 2007 and the Beijing Olympic Games.
Medical and Anti-Doping Commission Chairman Dr. Juan Manuel Alonso (ESP), commented:
“Prevention of injury is so important for us as members of the IAAF Medical and Anti-Doping Commission. We really must focus on ways to assist the athletes with their performances, and preventing injuries is a great way to do that”.
“We had a great response from all the athletes and their team medical staff following the study in Osaka and we expect that they will assist and benefit from this current study in Berlin”.
A paper published on the results of the Osaka 2007 study can be found in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, and the results from Berlin will also be published in a peer reviewed journal.
IAAF