835 MEP006 – Performance enhancement goes hand-in-hand with health protection – stakeholders’ perceptions on testing and training measures in high-performance snow sports

AbstractBackground High-performance snow sports such as alpine skiing, freestyle skiing and snowboarding are known to be high-risk sports. Preventative testing and training measures may be considered for athletes' preparation to support performance enhancement while protecting their health.Objective To explore the perspectives and perceptions of high-performance snow sports stakeholders on preventative testing and training measures in snow sports.Design Exploratory qualitative study with semi-structured interviews, following Grounded Theory principles.Setting High-performance snow sports athletes and staff participating on the World Cup and European Cup circuits of alpine skiing, snowboarding and free skiing.Participants Thirteen athletes, coaches, physiotherapists, and sports psychologists from different national teams, including Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Canada, Finland, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, and the United States of America.Interventions Exploratory study without intervention.Main Outcome Measurements Athletes' and stakeholders' perceptions and emerging concepts based on constant comparative data analysis.Results Participants described preparing the athletes in their best condition to perform as the overarching goal of testing measures and training methods. To do so, they mentioned two main targets: performance enhancement and health protection. Participants acknowledged health as a premise to perform optimally, considering testing and monitoring approaches, goal setting and training as part of preventive interventions to protect athlete performance. This continuous cyclic process is driven by communication and shared decision-making among all stakeholders, using testing and monitoring outputs to inform for goal setting, and training and injury prevention planification. Such approach helps athletes to achieve their goal of winning while being fit and healthy throughout athletes' short- and long-term development.Conclusions The ultimate goal of testing and training in high-performance snow sports is winning. One of the components of this systematic approach is health and performance protection. Our findings provide insight into testing methods' role to assess athletes' status and inform training goals and prevention strategies.