Impact of COVID-19 and the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games on Paralympic athletes and staff: A cross-sectional study

We aimed to investigate the impact of the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games on expected participants’ careers, COVID-19 history and mental health using an e-survey. Thirty-nine participants (median age 37 years; 16 females) from five countries responded between July 20 th and September 28 th , 2021, of which 37 completed the survey, including 20 athletes and 11 coaches. All but two participants planned to attend the rescheduled Games in 2021 (95%). Ninety percent (35/39) had previously tested at least once for COVID-19, with six testing positive. While three had no symptoms, all six were moderately impacted. Scores (median; lower and upper quartiles; questionnaire) for depression (2; 0.75-4; PHQ-9) and anxiety (2; 0-5.25; GAD-7) were low. Scores for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (3.5; 1-11; IES-R) were also low, but four participants reported high scores indicative of clinical concern for PTSD. There was low emotional distress caused by postponement of the Games (2; 1-4.5), and moderately low fear of catching COVID-19 (3; 2-5.5) on 10-point (0 = none, 10 = extreme) rating scales. While overall this population appears relatively resilient, the postponement of the Games came at a cost for some athletes and coaches, specifically with regards to experiencing symptoms of PTSD.