Information about a piece of news titled This is why they get injured
This is why they get injured
Intoduction
Competing among the world’s best in alpine skiing is tough and ruthless. From time to time athletes rupture their ACL, but how and why does it happen? Researchers are getting closer to finding the answer.
In world cup alpine skiing the going gets tough, and athletes get injured hurrying down the mountain side on the way to glory.
ACL injuries are grave and serious, and in some cases they put an end to the athlete’s career.
The International Ski Federation (FIS) has for a long time been focused on taking care of the athlete’s health. In cooperation with researchers from the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center they have sought to solve «the mystery of the ACL injury». Through thorough research one is now closer to the answer.
How and why does it happen?
The researchers have (in an article published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine) managed to identify three main mechanisms for how ACL injuries in World Cup (WC) alpine athletes occur.
The three mechanisms have been named «the slip-catch», «the landing back-weighted» and «the dynamic snowplow».
Read the whole article as published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine her (pdf).
Even if one knows how the injuries occur, the question remains as to why they happen.
Therefor the researchers went on to analyze the whole injury situation, with a particular focus on the events leading up to the moment of (the ACL) injury.
This was thoroughly investigated in a separate study, and was done through a systematic video analysis of 20 cases in the WC.
Read the whole article as published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine her (pdf).
A panel of experts
The injury situations were picked out on the basis of ACL injuries reported to the International Ski Federation Injury Surveillance System (FIS ISS). The injuries (from three consecutive WC seasons, 2006-2009) were all obtained on video.
Ten experts (nine WC coaches, one former WC athlete) performed visual analyses of each case of injury separately. The experts used their own words to describe the case, with regard to which factors they believed to contribute to the injury situation.
The factors were predefined into six different categories; skier technique (1), skier strategy (2), equipment (3), speed and course setting (4), visibility, snow and piste conditions (5) and any other factors (6).
The athlete’s own fault
Three main categories singled themselves out while analyzing these 20 cases. Skier technique, skier strategy and visibility, snow and piste conditions were assumed to be the main contributors to the injury situations.
Skier errors, technical mistakes and inappropriate tactical decisions were the dominant factors in the analysis. In addition, bumpy conditions, “aggressive snow, reduced visibility and course difficulties were assumed to contribute.
The project is led by PhD candidate Tone Bere (Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center), and conducted in cooperation with Tonje Wåle Flørenes, Tron Krosshaug, Lars Nordsletten and Roald Bahr.