The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris saw the debut of the urban dance style “Breaking,” and at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, athletes reached new heights with the inclusion of seven new sports, including karate and climbing.

But while the overall number of injuries at the Tokyo Olympics remained comparable to previous Games, researchers found that some of the new sports accounted for a disproportionately large share of injuries.

To protect the well-being of athletes, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reviews injuries and illnesses at each Olympic Games. The report published in 2022 describes the frequency of these cases during the Tokyo Games.

11,315 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees participated in the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games from July 23 to August 8, 2021, and their medical teams reported a total of 1,035 injuries and 438 illnesses during the 17 days.

On average, there were about nine injuries and four illnesses per 100 athletes.

Although 18 athletes (less than 0.2 percent) were affected by COVID-19, overall there were fewer cases than in previous years.

“This may be largely due to the extensive COVID-19 containment measures that have effectively reduced the transmission of COVID-19 and all respiratory infections,” write IOC sports scientist Torbjørn Soligard and his colleagues.

The overall injury rate of 9 percent was similar to that at the 2016 Rio Games (8 percent), 2012 London Games (11 percent) and 2008 Beijing Games (10 percent).

Most injuries occurred in boxing (27 percent) and in the new sports BMX racing (27 percent), BMX freestyle (22 percent), skateboarding (21 percent) and karate (19 percent).

The researchers point out that there could be many reasons why athletes in the new sports are more likely to be injured, ranging from weather conditions to venue, course or equipment design, and awareness of and adherence to injury prevention training.

“This highlights the importance of continuous, long-term monitoring of injuries and illnesses, as such variables can change over time,” they write.

Sports regulators “must use this data with the aim of reducing risk at future events.”

In addition, 78 athletes suffered from heat illnesses. This is not surprising, as temperatures rose to over 30 °C and relative humidity was over 70 percent, which can make the heat much more difficult to tolerate physiologically.

Fortunately, the cases were mild, which the team attributed to containment efforts.

These included rescheduling some events and recommending training in similar conditions ahead of the Games, which research has shown can help athletes endure more extreme conditions.

There were also provisions such as drinks and shade during the events and ice baths afterwards.

The researchers welcomed the success of the Olympic COVID-19 measures, but recommended that future games be held in cooler environments, which did not happen this time.

“This will reduce the need for resources to implement countermeasures against heat-related illness (both by event organizers and athletes) and maximize athletes’ chances of safely achieving their peak performance,” Soligard and his team concluded.

This research was published in British Journal of Sports Medicine.

An earlier version of this article was published in December 2022.