Optimisation of sports and physical education activities and physical training for students aged 14-16 through the integration of Olympic sports elements

The study aimed to investigate the impact of integrating the Olympic Education programme into school Olympic games and mass sporting events on the level of physical fitness and development of students. The research methodology included comparative analysis and a quasi-experimental study based at the V. Monomakh Lyceum in Pereiaslav and the I. Mazepa Academic Lyceum in Pereiaslav, involving 168 students between February and May, and the formation of an algorithm for organising mass sporting events based on elements of the Olympic Education programme. The study determined that each type of exercise has a different effect on the development of students’ physical qualities. The implementation of the Olympic Education programme promotes the systematic combination of physical education lessons and extracurricular mass sporting events, ensuring the comprehensive development of schoolchildren through the integration of learning, physical activity and play. At the beginning of the experiment, the physical fitness of students in the experimental and control groups was relatively the same, with minor differences in cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility and coordination. After completing the Olympic Education programme, the experimental group demonstrated significant improvement in all indicators: the average distance in the 12-minute Cooper run was 2,070 ± 200 m compared to 1,850 ± 210 m in the control group, the number of push-ups in 1 minute increased to 30 ± 6 times compared to 24 ± 5, flexibility in the sit-and-reach test reached 24 ± 5 cm compared to 19 ± 5 cm, and the shuttle run time (10×5 m) was 16.2 ± 1.8 seconds compared to 18.5 ± 2.1 seconds. These results indicate a significant increase in cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, and speed-coordination of students who participated in gamified physical education classes. The results of the study can be used by physical education teachers and school administrators to plan and implement Olympic education programmes aimed at increasing students’ physical activity