Having identified “Training the Elite Child Athlete” as a theme to be carefully studied, the IOC Medical Commission (MC) last week held a meeting in Lausanne. Coordinated by Margo Mountjoy M.D, member of the IOC MC and Lyle Micheli M.D., of the Harvard Medical School, discussions involved a group of experts including leading paediatric sports medicine and scientific experts from around the world as well as a retired elite child athlete. During the meeting, relative scientific literature was reviewed and safe guidelines were produced for the training of the elite child athlete.
At the end of its two-day meeting, the group of experts adopted a consensus (see below). This unique document provides information on the principles of training the child athlete, the identification of overtraining, as well as specific training recommendations. The purpose of this document is to improve the health and safety of the elite child athlete through the promotion of safe training principles and increase awareness among all the persons in his/her entourage.
The Role of the IOC Medical Commission
With the establishment of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the IOC Medical Commission’s role has moved from primarily handling anti-doping activities in the world of sport to taking an active role in the promotion of the health of athletes. To this end, a series of consensus meetings have been scheduled covering the following issues:
· Nutrition in Sport 2003
· Sudden Cardiovascular Death in Sport 2004
· Female Athlete Triad 2005
· Training the Elite Child Athlete 2005