Injuries and illnesses during the 54th FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2023 in Planica: a prospective cohort study.

Objective: To describe the incidence and characteristics of injuries and illnesses that occurred during the 54th Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica (Slovenia) 2023, including the disciplines of cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and ski jumping.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, national medical teams and the medical team of the local organiser collected data on a daily basis on all new, exacerbated or recurrent injuries and illnesses of the registered athletes using the IOC consensus recommendations.

Results: There were 596 registered athletes (250 women, 346 men), all with access to medical services. The national medical teams covered 347 (58.2%) athletes with a response rate of 77.1%. A total of 24 injuries, corresponding to an incidence rate of 4.0 per 100 athletes (95% CI, 2.5 to 5.6), and 15 illnesses, corresponding to an incidence rate of 2.5 per 100 athletes (95% CI, 1.3 to 3.8), were reported. The lower extremities were the most common injury location (58.3%), and every second injury in this category was a knee injury. The predominant injury types were joint sprains/ligament tears (25.0%) and contusions/bruises (25.0%). A total of three concussions (12.5% of all injuries) were reported, all of them in ski jumping. Among the illnesses, infections (73.3%) were the most common aetiology, and the respiratory system (53.3%) was the most frequently affected organ system.

Conclusion: Special attention should be given to knee injuries in all disciplines and concussions in ski jumping. A high proportion of the recorded illnesses were of infectious origin. The reduction in hygiene regulations after the COVID-19 pandemic could have contributed to this.