Department of Health and Sport Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 5650871, Japan.
Department of Infection Control and Prevention, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 5650871, Japan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Sep 18;18(18):9865. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18189865.
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted sporting activities across the world. However, practical training strategies for athletes to reduce the risk of infection during the pandemic have not been definitively studied. The purpose of this report was to provide an overview of the challenges we encountered during the reboot of high-performance sporting activities of the Japanese national handball team during the 3rd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Tokyo, Japan. Twenty-nine Japanese national women's handball players and 24 staff participated in the study. To initiate the reboot of their first training camp after COVID-19 stay-home social policy, we conducted: web-based health-monitoring, SARS-CoV-2 screening with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, real-time automated quantitative monitoring of social distancing on court using a moving image-based artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, physical intensity evaluation with wearable heart rate (HR) and acceleration sensors, and a self-reported online questionnaire. The training camp was conducted successfully with no COVID-19 infections. The web-based health monitoring and the frequent PCR testing with short turnaround times contributed remarkably to early detection of athletes' health problems and to risk screening. During handball, AI-based on-court social-distance monitoring revealed key time-dependent spatial metrics to define player-to-player proximity. This information facilitated appropriate on- and off-game distancing behavior for teammates. Athletes regularly achieved around 80% of maximum HR during training, indicating anticipated improvements in achieving their physical intensities. Self-reported questionnaires related to the COVID management in the training camp revealed a sense of security among the athletes that allowed them to focus singularly on their training. The challenges discussed herein provided us considerable knowledge about creating and managing a safe environment for high-performing athletes in the COVID-19 pandemic via the Japan Sports-Cyber Physical System (JS-CPS) of the Sports Research Innovation Project (SRIP, Japan Sports Agency, Tokyo, Japan). This report is envisioned to provide informed decisions to coaches, trainers, policymakers from the sports federations in creating targeted, infection-free, sporting and training environments.
新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情对全球体育活动产生了负面影响。然而，针对运动员在疫情期间降低感染风险的实用训练策略尚未得到明确研究。本报告旨在概述我们在日本东京第 3 波新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情期间重启日本国家手球队高性能体育活动时所面临的挑战。29 名日本国家女子手球运动员和 24 名工作人员参与了这项研究。为了重启他们在 COVID-19 居家社交政策后的第一次训练营，我们进行了以下操作：基于网络的健康监测、使用聚合酶链反应（PCR）测试进行 SARS-CoV-2 筛查、使用基于移动图像的人工智能（AI）算法实时自动定量监测球场上的社交距离、使用可穿戴心率（HR）和加速度传感器进行身体强度评估，以及在线自我报告问卷调查。训练营成功进行，没有 COVID-19 感染。基于网络的健康监测和频繁的 PCR 测试以及短时间的周转时间，对手运动员健康问题的早期检测和风险筛查做出了显著贡献。在手球比赛中，基于 AI 的球场上社交距离监测揭示了关键的时间依赖性空间指标，以定义球员之间的接近程度。这些信息有助于队友在比赛和比赛外保持适当的距离。运动员在训练中经常达到最大 HR 的 80%左右，这表明他们的身体强度有望得到提高。与训练营中 COVID 管理相关的自我报告问卷显示，运动员感到安全，这使他们能够专注于训练。本文讨论的挑战为我们提供了有关通过日本体育-网络物理系统（JS-CPS）的体育研究创新项目（SRIP，日本体育协会，东京，日本）为高绩效运动员创造和管理 COVID-19 大流行期间安全环境的宝贵知识。本报告旨在为教练、培训师和体育联合会的政策制定者提供决策依据，帮助他们为运动员创造有针对性的、无感染的体育和训练环境。
