Periodic health evaluation in athletes competing in Tokyo 2020: from SARS-CoV-2 to Olympic medals

The Tokyo Olympic games were the only games postponed for a year in peacetime, which will be remembered as the COVID-19 Olympics. No data are currently available on the effect on athlete’s performance.

The aim of this study is to examine the Italian Olympic athletes who have undergone the return to play (RTP) protocol after COVID-19 and their Olympic results.

642 Potential Olympics athletes competing in 19 summer sport disciplines were evaluated through a preparticipation screening protocol. The protocol comprised blood tests, 12-lead resting ECG, transthoracic echocardiogram, cardiopulmonary exercise test with COSMED Quark CPET, 24-hour Holter-ECG monitoring and cardiovascular MR based on clinical indication.

With a mean time of detraining of 30 days observed in the cohort, the study suggests that COVID-19 did not have any significant negative implication for sports performance in affected athletes who did not suffer from cardiac sequelae. Therefore, experience suggests that a forced period of 1 month rest before resuming preparation for the Olympics did not negatively impact competition and medal achievement.