found 287 reported injuries, in addition to the 185 who suffered illness at some point. Furthermore, 62 percent of all illnesses were respiratory-based.

Although 60 percent of the athletes surveyed were male, female Olympians reported a much higher injury incidence rate (131.1 per 1,000) than men (93.3 per 1,000). Breaking it down by sport, snowboard cross (35 percent), bobsled (20 percent) and freestyle skiing (19 percent) proved to be the most dangerous, based on the rates of all participants injured. For those who fell ill, skaters (both figure and speed) proved most susceptible with a 12- and 13-percent illness rate.

Anatomically speaking, athletes were most often injured up high, in the head, face and upper spine areas. The most frequent injury types were, as you might suspect, contusions, ligament sprains and muscular strains. Additionally, 20 concussions were reported during the Olympics (and those are only the ones that were diagnosed).

However, one data point clearly stands out as some sort of blip, something that can’t possibly be accurate: Four Olympians were injured in curling. The injuries were nothing serious, merely a strain, a cramp and some tendon wear-and-tear.

But if we’ve really reached the point where our world’s best curling professionals can’t compete at the highest levels without worry of personal harm, then serious reforms are indeed in order.

Photo: Flickr/soldiersmediacenter, CC

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Authors: Erik Malinowski

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