This article examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected Norwegian athletes during the national lockdown in 2020.
This has meant that athletes have not all been affected by COVID-19 in the same way. Although COVID-19 has affected athletes globally, there are variations between different countries in that national governments have implemented different strategies for dealing with the pandemic. In short, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that for the first time since the Second World War athletes throughout the world have been forced to interrupt their training and competitions (Sarto et al. Most notably, the global sports mega event, the Tokyo 2020 summer Olympic Games, was postponed to 2021 (IOC 2020). Finally, after 18 months of lockdowns, restrictions, cancelled competitions and uncertainty, the Norwegian Directorate of Health, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) and the Norwegian government all agreed that Norwegian sports would be fully open again from 25th September 2021 (NIF 2021a, 2021b).īoth in Norway and internationally, elite sport has been greatly affected by the pandemic, with national and international championships either being cancelled or suspended. At other times outdoor and non-contact sports were allowed, but not indoor contact sports, and at some point indoor sports training were allowed for both children and adults as long as athletes stayed 2-meters apart. For instance, at certain times during the covid-19 pandemic in 2020–2021 sporting activities for children and youth (6–19 years) were allowed, but not for adult athletes. The regulation of organized sport was continuously adapted to the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, which meant that coaches and athletes were required to adhere to the changing rules and regulations. Throughout most of 2020 and the majority of 2021, sports training and competitions in Norway were either prohibited or strictly regulated due to the pandemic. In March 2020, the Norwegian government declared a national lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which resulted in sporting activities and competitions, part of the daily life of many Norwegians of all ages, being suddenly and indefinitely cancelled.
One of the many consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway has been the abrupt cancellation of organized sport. Athletes living in urban areas are more likely to participate in digital training than those living in rural areas. Older athletes are more likely to participate in virtual competitions than younger athletes. Female athletes are more likely to participate in online training than male athletes, while male athletes are more likely to participate in virtual sports competitions than female athletes. Logistic regression analyses indicate that there are age and gender differences in athletes’ participation in online training and virtual sports competitions.
The results show that the athletes’ use of digital technology for online training increased significantly during the lockdown. This is analyzed using quantitative survey data from 953 Norwegian athletes collected during a lockdown in the spring of 2020. This article examines how strict nation-wide regulations and lockdowns affected athletes’ training habits in Norway and, more specifically, their use of digital technology for sports training and competition purposes.
0 kommentar(er)
