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Background: The impact of the corona pandemic on competitive sports has not yet been studied in a larger group of athletes.Methods: Using an online questionnaire, junior and adult elite athletes from Germany and Austria were asked about their infection status, potential symptoms of COVID-19, and the impact of the pandemic on their athletic activity.Results: Between April 21, 2020 and February 16, 2021, a total of 2981 questionnaires were recorded (50.3% female, 25.7% professional athletes, 37.9% national team members). 78 athletes (2.6%) reported a positive PCR test result for SARS-CoV-2. In addition, 67 (2.3%) athletes reported that they had experienced the disease but were self-diagnosed. In 19 athletes (0.6%), infection was suspected by a physician but without testing. 841 (28.2%) athletes stated that they were in quarantine at least once. At least one symptom that might be associated with COVID-19 was observed in 38.7% of all athletes. Cardiac symptoms were reported significantly more often in PCR-positive athletes than in the group of athletes without confirmed infection or no infection. 15 athletes (0.5%) were admitted to hospital due to COVID-19, 8 of them were hospitalized for more than 1 week.Conclusion: The corona pandemic has a massive impact on competitive sports. In addition to indirect consequences due to quarantine measures or cancellation of competitions, infections with SARS-CoV-2 occurred in a significant proportion of athletes. Severe courses with hospitalization were also recorded among competitive athletes.Key Words: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, Infection, Questionnaire, Competitive Sports

Introduction: An infection with SARS-CoV-2 is relevant especially in high-performance sport due to possible organ damage and reduced performance which occurs in individual cases. Various recommendations are found in the literature concerning when safe return to sports is possible and what examinations are suitable to support this decision. The dominance of other virus variants than those at the start of the pandemic makes revision of earlier recommendations necessary. Methods and Analysis: The recommended actions are based on the currently-available scientific knowledge of the pathogenicity of the virus and on clinical experiences in general and elite athletes. Twenty-one recommended actions were proposed by the Scientific Council of the DGSP, discussed and agreed on in consensus with experts from German-language sports-medical facilities and evaluated by an independent co-author. The resultant position paper was subsequently released by mutual agreement. Results: The recommendations are oriented to the severity of the course and the symptoms. The required medical diagnostic is deduced therefrom. During persistent symptoms, sports should be paused and training only begun again at low intensity after a three-day symptom-free period. If COVID-19-associated complaints recur, physical exertion should be stopped and a doctor consulted. After moderate and serious course, medical diagnostics are required prior to the start of training. Summary: To prevent a health risk due to sports and thereby resultant organ damage after a SARS-CoV-2 infection, a procedure adapted to the symptoms and course before return to training and finally to competitive sports is recommended.

Coaches are seen as strong influencing factors in the regulation of athletes behavior and attitudes, as well as being in a good position to transfer knowledge. Hence, they should be included in targeted education strategies in doping prevention. The current study aimed at evaluating the knowledge and attitudes of Western-Austrian coaches to outline possible associations between education and perceived and actual knowledge. A questionnaire divided into four main fields of interest: (a) perceived knowledge, (b) actual knowledge, (c) attitudes, and (d) coach behavior, was handed out to 135 sport teachers and coaches in Tyrol (response rate: 45.9%). Perceived knowledge was significantly lower than actual knowledge (72.2 and 87 out of 100, p

The production of neopterin increases in several diseases with activation of the ceIlular immune response. As previously shown serum concentrations of neopterin are inversely correlated with blood hemoglobin concentrations in the anemia of hematological and malignant disorders. Besides the role of chronic immune activation on the disturbed iron metabolism, an inhibitory influence of pteridines on cellular erythropoietin production could not be excluded. To test the possibility that pteridines are able to suppress the hypoxia-induced production of erythropoietin, the effects of neopterin and 7,8-dihydroneopterin on the human ceIl line HepG2 (hepatoceIlular carcinoma) were investigated. 24 h incubation with neopterin induced a dose-dependent reduction of erythropoietin production. The erythropoietin concentration significantly decreased by - 57.6% with 300 11M and by - 34.9% with 100 11M neopterin, respectively. 7,8 dihydroneopterin did not influence erythropoietin production. The inhibitory effect of neopterin on erythropoietin production was a consequence of reduced erythropoietin-mRNA levels. The results of this study show a neopterin-induced suppression of hypoxia-induced erythropoietin formation in HepG2 cultures in a dose dependent manner. We speculate that under in vivo conditions high concentrations of neopterin can aggravate the anemia of chronic disease.