On‐field physical activity of Special Olympics athletes and Unified Partners during the 2022 Special Olympics World Unified Cup

Background Special Olympics is a sport organisation spearheading efforts to increase physical activity accessibility through inclusive sport. The Unified Sports® initiative brings together Special Olympics athletes (with intellectual disabilities) and Unified partners (without a disability) in sport training and competition on the same team. The study aims to objectively evaluate differences in on‐field physical activity levels between athletes and partners during the 2022 Special Olympics World Unified Cup, an international soccer (i.e., football) competition. Participants were Special Olympics athletes (n = 96; 44 females, 52 males) and Unified partners (n = 70; 34 females and 36 males) competing in the women's and men's tournaments. Methods On‐field actigraph accelerometry measured physical activity from 166 players, over 29 matches, and totalling 493 player‐matches. Results In the women's tournament, nearly identical estimates of moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity levels (MVPA) were observed between athletes and partners (P = .409). However, a significant group difference was observed within a specific physical activity intensity category as partners accrued more minutes of very vigorous physical activity than athletes (P