56 Medals available in Rio Olympics
A swag of medals are available across the four Olympic combat Sports of Boxing, Judo, Taekwondo and Wrestling, with Australia missing out on many in previous Games.
Injuries and illnesses are catastrophic to success. A threshold of 80% of training weeks completed without injury or illness is required to be successful in track and field. It is unknown whether this relationship also exists in the Olympic combat sports.
Athletes of these sports are experiencing high injury rates, reducing their training exposure and subsequent performance. Camp injury rates are particularly high as training loads can skyrocket compared to the athlete's normal amount.
The aim of my next 3 years of research is to investigate the epidemiology of combat sport injury, focusing on the effects of training load, and to provide evidence-based recommendations to National Sporting Organisations on reducing injury and enhancing training exposure.
It is my honor and privilege to research this topic with Federation University and the Australian Institute of Sport, in partnership with Judo Federation of Australia, Boxing Australia, Wrestling Australia, and Taekwondo Australia.
