Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jul;23(7):670-679.
doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2020.05.016. Epub 2020 May 19.

Nowhere to hide: The significant impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) measures on elite and semi-elite South African athletes

Lervasen Pillay  1 , Dina C Christa Janse van Rensburg  2 , Audrey Jansen van Rensburg  3 , Dimakatso A Ramagole  3 , Louis Holtzhausen  4 , H Paul Dijkstra  5 , Tanita Cronje  6
Affiliations

Nowhere to hide: The significant impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) measures on elite and semi-elite South African athletes

Lervasen Pillay et al. J Sci Med Sport. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the perceptions of South African elite and semi-elite athletes on return to sport (RTS); maintenance of physical conditioning and other activities; sleep; nutrition; mental health; healthcare access; and knowledge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Design: Cross- sectional study.

Methods: A Google Forms survey was distributed to athletes from 15 sports in the final phase (last week of April 2020) of the level 5 lockdown period. Descriptive statistics were used to describe player demographic data. Chi-squared tests investigated significance (p<0.05) between observed and expected values and explored sex differences. Post hoc tests with a Bonferroni adjustment were included where applicable.

Results: 67% of the 692 respondents were males. The majority (56%) expected RTS after 1-6 months. Most athletes trained alone (61%; p<0.0001), daily (61%; p<0.0001) at moderate intensity (58%; p<0.0001) and for 30-60min (72%). During leisure time athletes preferred sedentary above active behaviour (p<0.0001). Sleep patterns changed significantly (79%; p<0.0001). A significant number of athletes consumed excessive amounts of carbohydrates (76%; p<0.0001; males 73%; females 80%). Many athletes felt depressed (52%), and required motivation to keep active (55%). Most had access to healthcare during lockdown (80%) and knew proceedings when suspecting COVID-19 (92%).

Conclusions: COVID-19 had physical, nutritional and psychological consequences that may impact on the safe RTS and general health of athletes. Lost opportunities and uncertain financial and sporting futures may have significant effects on athletes and the sports industry. Government and sporting federations must support athletes and develop and implement guidelines to reduce the risk in a COVID-19 environment.

Keywords: Athletes; COVID-19; Lockdown impact; Return to sport; SARS-CoV-2 virus.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

References

    1. Zhou P., Yang X.-L., Wang X.-G. A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature. 2020;579(7798):270–273. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rothan H.A., Byrareddy S.N. The epidemiology and pathogenesis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. J Autoimmun. 2020:102433. doi: 10.1016/j.jaut.2020.102433. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jiang F., Deng L., Zhang L. Review of the clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) J Gen Intern Med. 2020:1–5. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Richards G., Mer M., Schleicher G. COVID-19 and the rationale for pharmacotherapy: a South African perspective. Wits J Clin Med. 2020;2(1):11–18.
    1. President Cyril Ramaphosa: South Africa's response to Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. South Africa: South Africa Government Newsroom Speeches; 2020. Available at: https://www.gov.za/speeches/president-cyril-ramaphosa-south-africas-resp....

Substances