Injury trends in Olympic team sports

This study aimed to analyse trends in injury occurrence among athletes in Olympic team sports based on studies reporting data from established injury surveillance systems. A secondary analysis of published epidemiological data from the Olympic Games (2004–2020) was conducted using reports based on the International Olympic Committee injury surveillance system. The analysis included football, basketball, handball, volleyball, beach volleyball, water polo, and hockey. Injury incidence was expressed as the proportion of injured athletes, including time-loss injuries (≥1 day) and severe injuries, and trends were assessed using linear regression. The results indicated an overall decreasing trend in injury incidence across Olympic team sports (slope = −1.96% per Olympic cycle), although not observed statistical significance (p > 0.05). A statistically significant reduction was observed in basketball (slope = −2.89%; p = 0.01), whereas football and handball demonstrated non-significant decreasing trends. In contrast, volleyball, beach volleyball, and water polo showed non-significant increasing trends (p > 0.05). The proportion of athletes sustaining time-loss injuries decreased significantly over the study period (slope = −0.96%; p = 0.02). Contact sports demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in time-loss injuries (slope = −1.34%; p = 0.01), whereas non-contact sports showed a non-significant increasing tendency in overall injury incidence (slope = 1.74%; p = 0.09). Overall, injury trends in Olympic team sports appear heterogeneous and influenced by sport-specific characteristics, particularly the level of physical contact. These findings may support sport-specific injury prevention strategies and athlete health protection programmes. Interpretation remains limited due to methodological variability and the lack of long-term comparable data.