T.K. Esentaev
 International Centre for Sports Technology «Sport Energy», Moscow

Keywords: competition, risk factors, athletes, systematization

Introduction. Athlete's talent and effective training, high level of technical and tactical skills, physical and psychological preparedness and optimistic forecasts of experts are not a guarantee of success in major competitions. There are many risk factors that can lead to unfortunate breakdowns and failures. The history of Olympic Games knows many examples of unexpected setbacks and defeats of athletes who were predicted to have a flawless victory and who were objectively the leaders in their sports. Any of these cases is a result of blunders, unexpected events or unaccounted factors. This issue is even more important for those athletes who have almost identical levels of athletic achievement and skill and equal chances. Therefore, it is important to study and systematize the risk factors that could have a negative impact on athletes' performance, and develop the measures to reduce the probability of their occurrence and to minimize their effect.

Objective of the research was to systematize the risk factors that could have an adverse affect on the athletes' performance results in major competitions, to develop prevention measures to reduce the probability of occurrence and mitigation of effect.

Results and discussion. The risk factors that can lead to unfortunate breakdowns and failures during major competitions, the training for which is especially intense, can be reduced to two groups. The first group includes mistakes and poor decisions related to the final part of the training process (last 2-3 weeks) right before a particular competition: insufficient or excessive training; irrational dynamics of loads; irrational orientation of the training process; inclusion of official, qualifying and control competitions and etc.

The second group of risk factors is related to primarily the external influences that can adversely affect sport results. The study of these factors, conducted by Norwegian experts [4, 5] who developed recommendations for training of the national team of Norway for the Olympic Games and Winter Olympics in 2006-2012, revealed multiple risk factors, which were summarized in five groups:

• climatic, geographic and weather conditions, the problems of moving, living conditions, places of competitions, etc.;

• health condition, illnesses, injuries, poor nutrition, accidents;

• psychological factors due to overly ambitious goals;

• relationships in the team;

• relationships with the media.

Currently, there is enough material on the identification of risk factors, however, only a few studies and recommendations are devoted to the issues of risk management and prevention of negative events [4, 5,6].

At the same time, the prevention and minimisation of negative events and phenomena, which can unexpectedly devalue long stressful work of an athlete, are as important as the organization and implementation of the training process [3,6]. An influence of a number of risk factors (diseases, injuries, incidents and conflicts) can be reduced as a result of cautious and balanced behaviour. The effect of other factors (temporary stress; adaptation to the competition venues; surprises, associated with an unknown opponent; perfectionism) can be minimized by an appropriate correction of psychological preparation, the content of training, or lifestyle [1,8].

The relationships within the team are of particular importance in preventing many of the risk factors. Good personal relations, mutual respect and realistic assessment of capabilities and roles of each team member create the background which decreases the probability of various risk factors [2,7].

Professionals and athletes note the risks associated with the communication with the media and their activities. It is not a secret that many journalists instead of objective information and thoughtful analysis prefer questionable and scandalous facts, all sorts of conjectures and assumptions, interference in the private lives of athletes, etc. Such activities may have a negative impact on the mental state of an athlete and seriously complicate the team microclimate.

Conclusion. The analysis of risk factors related to the final stage of athletic training for competitions and purposeful work on prevention and minimisation of negative effects can significantly improve athletes' performance results in major competitions.

References

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Corresponding author: esentaevt@mail.ru

Abstract

Objective of the research was to study and systematize the risk factors that could have an adverse affect on the athletes' performance results in major competitions, to develop prevention measures to reduce the probability of occurrence and mitigation of effect.

The article deals with predictable and unpredictable risks that could lead to breakdowns and failures at major competitions regardless the indubitable talent of the athletes, their high level of technical and tactical skills, physical fitness and optimistic forecasts of experts. Recommendations for prevention and mitigation of negative situations and phenomena that could devalue the long-term and strenuous training are presented in the paper.