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This study aimed at determining the amount of Italian television coverage dedicated to men's and women's sport and the number of male and female viewers during the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. AUDITEL-AGB Nielsen Media Research Italia provided the TV airtime data for the sport events broadcast, which were classified into three categories: men-only, women-only, and mixed-gender. The viewer sample was divided by age and gender and included three audience parameters: mean audience, share, and appreciation index. The last item is calculated from the program duration, audience permanence, and the share related to programs broadcast by other Italian channels. In particular, the appreciation index was used to investigate the relationship between (a) the viewer's and sport participants' gender and (b) the effect of Italian participation and expectations for sport achievement. The data showed that Italian male athletes outnumbered their female counterparts. Women's sport was allotted significantly less airtime than men's sport, but this imbalance was not proportional to the gender difference in the overall athletes' participation in the Games. Although the female audience represented 45% of the total, a significantly higher male mean audience and share were found. On the other hand, the appreciation of men's and women's sport events was balanced after equating for differences in media coverage. Moreover, sport achievement might have a positive effect on the trend toward equality of gender coverage, indicating that a global multisport event such as the Olympic Games is central to communicating a national image and identity independently of the athletes' gender. (Contains 4 tables and 4 figures.)

In general, women are well represented among sport participants and sport audiences but not in the media. Data show that women's sport is greatly under-reported and trivialized in newspapers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to measure press coverage during the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in the largest circulating Belgian, Danish, French, and Italian daily newspapers by: (a) number of articles, (b) size, (c) page placement, (d) accompanying photographs, and (e) photograph size. For each sport covered, the athletes' nationality and the gender were recorded. Compared to the 1996 Atlanta Games, there was an increase of 326 female athletes (+4%), and women competed in 25 sports and 132 events (44%) of the total 300 events. Although only 29.3% of the articles and 38% of photos were on women's sports, the newspaper coverage was similar to the distribution of participating athletes and events. No significant gender differences were found with respect to article size, page placement, accompanying photographs, or photograph size. The most covered sport was track and field, independent of national achievement. Other sports received different coverage in relation to national expectations, achievement, and participation. In conclusion, there was a trend to overcome gender inequities in media coverage during the Olympic Games, which may be due to the International Olympic Committee's actions to promote increased participation of women in sport activities and to publicize their achievements. Moreover, during the Olympic Games, a nationalistic fervor might affect the equality of gender coverage.

Purpose: To evaluate the pacing strategy, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and mood during a 78.1-km solo ultra endurance open-water swim. Methods: Before and after the event, anthropometric parameters, cortisol, and the profile of mood state (POMS) of 1 male athlete (age 48 y, height 172 cm, body mass 68 kg, body fat 7.2%, athletic achievement: Italian record holder of the Channel Swim) were ascertained. Every 3 h during the event, average swimming speed (SS), stroke rate, stroke length (SL), and RPE were recorded. Results: The athlete completed the event in 23:44 h:min. Compared with the first 3 h of swimming, decreases in SS (-33%) and SL (-25%) were observed between 18 h and 21 h. Thereafter, the athlete increased SS (+41%) and SL (+17%) between 21 h and the end. RPE steadily increased from the beginning to the last 6 h of swimming. Cortisol showed a 23-fold increase. After the event, POMS showed a 500% increase in fatigue, 44% decrease in tension, and 77% decrease in vigor. Conclusion: For the first time ever an athlete crossed the Adriatic Sea. This case study shows that the athlete adopted a variable pacing strategy to complete 78 km. Despite the athlete perceiving his effort at maximum during the last 6 h, the observed increases in SS at the end of the event might substantiate his high potential motivation to accomplish this challenging and unique event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The assessment of internal training load (ITL) using the session rating of perceived exertion (session RPE) has been demonstrated to provide valuable information, also in team sports. Nevertheless, no studies have investigated the use of this method during youth water polo training. Purpose: To evaluate youth water polo training, showing the corresponding level of reliability of the session-RPE method. Methods: Thirteen male youth water polo players (age 15.6 ± 0.5 y, height 1.80 ± 0.06 m, body mass 72.7 ± 7.8 kg) were monitored during 8 training sessions (80 individual training sessions) over 10 d. The Edwards summated heart-rate-zone method was used as a reference measure of ITL; the session-RPE rating was obtained using CR-10 scale modified by Foster. The Pearson product-moment was applied to regress the Edwards heart-rate-zone method against CR-10 session RPE for each training session and individual data. Results: Analyses reported overall high ( r = .88, R2 = .78) and significant (P < .001) correlations between the Edwards heart-rate and session-RPE methods. Significant correlations were also shown for each training session (r range .69-92, R2 range .48-85, P < .05) and individual data (r range .76-.98, R2 range .58-97, P < .05). Discussion: The results confirmed that the session-RPE method as an easy and reliable tool to evaluate ITL in youth water polo, allowing coaches to efficiently monitor their training plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To anticipate outstanding athletic outcomes, the selection process of elite athletes simultaneously considers psychophysiological and technical parameters. This study aimed to investigate whether selected and nonselected athletes for the Italian national taekwondo team could be discriminated by means of sport- specific performances and psychophysiological responses to training. Participants: 5 established Italian national athletes and 20 elite Italian taekwondo black belt athletes (9 women, 16 men; age 23.0 ±3.1 y; body mass 67.0 ± 12.1 kg). Methods: To update the Italian national-team roster, the 20 elite athletes participated in a 1-wk selection camp (7 training sessions). Selected athletes (n = 10) joined established national athletes during the following 3-wk national training period (7 training sessions/wk). During the 1-wk selection camp, differences (P < .05) between selected and nonselected athletes in performances, heart-rate responses, blood lactate accumulation [La], subjective ratings of perceived exertion (session RPE), and mood were examined. During the 3-wk national training period, differences (P < .05) in mood between selected and established national athletes were investigated. Results: With respect to nonselected athletes, selected athletes responded better to training in terms of session RPE (P = .047) and [La] (P = .046). No difference in performance and mood between subgroups emerged. After the 3-wk national training period, differences (P = .035) emerged for confusion, with decreases in the established national athletes and increases for recently selected athletes. Conclusions: Session RPE and [La] seem to be more effective than psychological measures in discriminating between elite taekwondo athletes. Evaluation of mood could be effective in monitoring athletes' response to national training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of a solo ultraendurance open-water swim on autonomic and nonautonomic control of heart rate (HR). Methods: A male athlete (age 48 y, height 172 cm, body mass 68 kg, BMI 23 kg/m²) underwent HR-variability (HRV) and circulating catecholamine evaluations at different times before and after an ultraendurance swim crossing the Adriatic Sea from Italy to Albania. HRV was measured in 5-min segments and quantified by time and frequency domain. Circulating cat-echolamines were estimated by salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) assay. Results: The athlete completed 78.1 km in 23:44 h:min. After arrival, sAA levels had increased by 102.6%. Time- and frequency-domain HRV indexes decreased, as well (mean RR interval, -29,7%; standard deviation of normal mean RR interval, -63,1 %; square root of mean squared successive differences between normal-to-normal RR intervals, -49.3%; total power, -74.3%; low frequency, -78.0%; high frequency, -76.4%), while HR increased by 41.8%. At 16-h recovery, sAA had returned to preevent values, while a stable tachycardia was accompanied by reduced HRV measures. Conclusion: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study reporting cardiac autonomic adjustments to an extreme and challenging ultraendurance open-water swim. The findings confirmed that the autonomic drives depend on exercise efforts. Since HRV changes did not mirror the catecholamine response 16 h postevent, the authors assume that the ultraendurance swim differently influenced cardiac function by both adaptive autonomic and nonautonomic patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the individual and team time-motion analyses of Italian elite women's basketball games. Topics include low- and high-intensity activities (HIAs) in basketball, such as running and jumping, respectively, the evaluation of players’ movement patterns during HIA, sprint activity, and repeated sprint events (RSEs), the analyses of live time (LT), stoppage time (ST), and half- and full-court actions in teams, and the frequency at which changes of activities occurred.

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The article discusses research which was conducted to define the technical and tactical profiles of official youth taekwondo competitions played under the most recent rules of the International Taekwondo Federation. Researchers evaluated the fighting styles of 50 taekwondo athletes. They found that tournament winners were more efficient in terms of technical and tactical variables and tended to adopt an offensive fighting strategy.

The article discusses the tactical and technical aspects of losing and winning teams in unbalanced and close women's water polo games, suggesting that water polo can be analyzed according to margins of victory. Topics include training, notational analysis, offensive even arrangements, and lost possessions.

The article discusses research investigating the time-motion structure of combat phases, including fighting (F), nonfighting (NF), and stoppage time (ST), during semifinal and final matches of the 2010 Italian Taekwondo Cadet Championship. The authors compared the time-motion structure of official youth Olympic Taekwondo (TKD) combats in relation to the athletes' gender and weight division. Differences for frequency of occurrence of combat phases are discussed.

Copyright of Kinesiologia Slovenica is the property of Faculty of Sport and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article reports on research conducted to investigate the technical and tactical aspects of young athletes during official taekwondo competitions. Researchers evaluated 43 male and 16 female athletes. They found that there were no differences for gender and match outcomes, that all athletes engaged more frequently in offensive actions and that kicks with the rear leg were performed more frequently than kicks with the front leg.

The aim of this study was to investigate differences in athletes' (7 females, 10 males) motor performances (countermovement jump and handgrip) before and after official youth (13–14 years) taekwondo matches. Exercise load was evaluated by means of the heart rate responses during the match. Independent of round and gender, during the competitions mean heart rate was 187 beats·min−1 (s=11). During the match, the frequency of heart rate responses above 85% of an individual's maximum heart rate was 77% (s=27). Jump performances showed differences for gender (P=0.044; ES = 0.47) and its interaction with session (P=0.045; ES = 0.49). Female athletes' post-match countermovement performances were no different from their pre-match performances (pre and post: 22 cm, s=2), whereas male athletes post-match performances (28 cm, s=6) were better than their pre-match performances (25 cm, s=6). Handgrip performances related to the body mass of the athletes showed main effects for session (P=0.017; ES = 0.20) and for gender (P=0.026; ES = 0.47), with no significant interaction. Male athletes showed higher handgrip values (5.8 N·kg−1, s=0.6) than their female counterparts (5.1 N·kg−1, s=0.7). For absolute grip strength performances, values were higher pre-match (290.3 N, s=61.4) than post-match (272.4 N, s = 58.3). The heart rate responses indicate that official youth taekwondo competition imposes a high load on athletes. In particular, post-match decreases in isometric grip strength suggest that coaches should better prepare their very young athletes to prevent reductions in muscle force during fighting. Considering that lower limb power remained unaffected or increased depending on gender, further research in this area is strongly recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses aspects of official 5-a-side youth soccer matches played on two pitch surface conditions such as the clay and artificial turf. It focuses on the level of heart rate (HR) responses and the analysis of the match including the number of players, shot precision, and lost balls. It reports that the youth soccer training program should use a multidisciplinary approach which include technical-tactical, psychological, and physiological contributions.

Athletes have the right to combine their sport and higher education careers (e.g., dual career), but differences in the recognition of the student-athlete's status and availability of dual career programmes and services exist worldwide. The purpose of this study was to investigate the dual career phenomenon through the international student-athletes' views. Student-athletes competing at the 2017 Summer Universiade were recruited to respond a 31-item online survey encompassing demographic characteristics (Q1-8), sport and university engagement (Q9-13), student-athletes' knowledge and possible sources of information regarding dual career (Q14-22); and dual career support at personal, sport, and academic levels (Q23-31). Four hundred twenty-six respondents (males: 46%, females 54%), competing in 22 different sports (individual: 74%, team: 26%) from Africa (4%), America (20%), Asia (34%), Europe (39%), and Oceania (3), had experienced previous international sports events (94%). Differences among continents emerged for sport (p<0.001) and university (p = 0.039) engagement, and transfer time from home to the training venue (p = 0.030). Individual sports student-athletes showed higher sport engagement (p = 0.003) compared to team sports counterparts. Differences among university majors emerged for university engagement (p<0.001). Long absence from classes (57%), limited leisure time (50%), financial uncertainty (44%), reduction of training due to education (42%), and overload feelings (37%) emerged. The majority of the sample resulted not familiar with dual career programmes (60%) and public authorities (69%), envisaging national dual career policies at university (37%) and sport (25%) levels. Multiple relevant dual career supporters at personal, sport, and university levels were identified, mainly parents (86%) and coaches (65%). To strengthen the potential of the student-athletes of the future, a dual career network should be established among several stakeholders, for transnational cooperation and sharing of knowledge and best practices through extensive communication between policy-makers, practitioners and those having a strong supportive dual career role (e.g., parents, coaches, and university sport staff)., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Firefighters perform many tasks which require a high level of fitness and their personal safety may be compromised by the physiological aging process. The aim of the study was to evaluate strength (bench-press), power (countermovement jump), sprint (20 m) and endurance (with and without Self Contained Breathing Apparatus - S.C.B.A.) of 161 Italian firefighters recruits in relation to age groups (<25 yr; 26-30 yr; 31-35 yr; 36-40 yr; 41-42 yr). Descriptive statistics and an ANOVA were calculated to provide the physical fitness profile for each parameter and to assess differences (p < 0.05) among age groups. Anthropometric values showed an age-effect for height and BMI, while performances values showed statistical differences for strength, power, sprint tests and endurance test with S.C.B.A. Wearing the S.C.B.A., 14% of all recruits failed to complete the endurance test. We propose that the firefighters should participate in an assessment of work capacity and specific fitness programs aimed to maintain an optimal fitness level for all ages., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.)

Unlabelled: Agility is the player's capability to perform rapid whole-body movement with change of velocity or direction in response to a stimulus. The aims of this study were as follows: 1) to assess the reliability of a reactive visual stimuli agility field test (RVS-T); and 2) to evaluate differences in RVS-T and planned (PVS-T) agility performances between female soccer and futsal players., Material and Methods: Sixty-six female players belonging to Italian teams of regional level were recruited to the study. The experimental apparatus consisted of four lighted spherical visual stimuli connected to a computer able to randomly generate three different sequences. Differences between RVS-T and PVS-T performances were calculated to evaluate the decision-making time (DMT) of players., Results: The intraclass reliability coefficient for RVS-T was 0.80. Significant (P<0.05) differences emerged only for RVS-T (futsal, 17.3±0.5 s; soccer, 18.8±1.1 s) and DMT (futsal, 2.6±0.6 s; soccer, 4.1±1.2 s), whereas similar performances between groups resulted for PVS-T (futsal, 14.7±0.6 s; soccer, 14.6±0.6 s)., Conclusions: The RVS-T proved to be a reliable tool to evaluate agility in field conditions. Futsal players showed better RVS-T and DMT performances with respect to soccer counterparts, probably due to the higher velocity of actions and faster decision-making of their sport. The lack of difference in PVS-T performances confirms the importance to evaluate agility capabilities of players in both planned and reactive conditions.

Although motorcycling performance strongly depends on the characteristics of the motorcycles and capabilities of the riders, little information is available on the physiological profiles of riders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physical load of official international men's road-race motorcycling competitions. Data were obtained from 34 male riders during the 2005 European Road-Race Motorcycling Championship (categories classified by size of engine: 125 GP, 250 GP, and 600 cc) during free practices, qualifying sessions, and official races. Participants' heart rates were recorded and blood lactate concentrations determined. During races, heart rates were most often above 90% of maximum heart rate (frequency of occurrence: 125 GP = 92.9%, s = 5.3; 250 GP = 93.6%, s = 7.3; 600 cc = 93.2%, s = 10.2). The heart rate distribution during riding showed main effects between phases of competition, engine sizes, and different portions of the race (P < 0.001). No difference was observed between riders on and not on the podium at the end of the race. Peak blood lactate concentrations after the qualifying sessions (5.2 mmol . l(-1), s = 1.2) and official races (6.0 mmol . l(-1), s = 2.1) were higher (P < 0.001) than at baseline. The present results show that road-race motorcycling imposes a high load on the riders, who should possess adequate fitness to maintain high-speed rides and minimize the effects of fatigue during competition.

In this study, we investigated the focus of visual attention in expert soccer players together with the effects of acute bouts of physical exercise on performance. In two discriminative reaction time experiments, which were performed both at rest and under submaximal physical workload, visual attention was cued by means of spatial cues of different size followed by compound stimuli with local and global target features. Soccer players were slower than non-athletes in reacting to local compared with global targets, but were faster in switching from local to global attending. Thus, soccer players appear to be less skilled in local attending, but better able than non-athletes to rapidly "zoom out" the focus of attention. Non-athletes generally showed faster performance under physical load, as expected according to the hypothesis of exercise-induced increases in arousal and/or activation and in resource allocation. In contrast, soccer players showed a more differentiated pattern of exercise-induced facilitation that selectively affects specific components of the attentional performance and is interpreted by referring to the role played by individual expertise and cognitive effort.