Sports injuries among female athletes can be reduced by creating a safe, supportive environment for training and competition, an International Olympic Committee panel has concluded.
Among many other physical safety recommendations, an environment free of body shaming, idealized body types and notions of how women "should" behave is key to reducing future risk of injury for female athletes, an IOC consensus statement published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine argues.
The first-of-its-kind statement, called the Female, woman and/or girl Athlete Injury pRevention practical recommendations, aims to tackle gaps in knowledge, injury prevention and inclusion among female athletes.
"Recommendations such as 'Create safe spaces free from body shaming or promoting ideal body types, or gendered norms' might appear sensible, but they are NOT always part of female/woman/athletes' reality," concluded the panel led by Kay Crossley, director of the La Trobe University Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Center in Melbourne, Australia.
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