Impact of Potential Physiological Changes due to COVID-19 Home Confinement on Athlete Health Protection in Elite Sports: a Call for Awareness in Sports Programming

A global emergency characterized by a respiratory illness called COVID-19 has spread worldwide in early 2020. Preventive measures to reduce the risk of infection include social distancing and the closing of commercial activities to avoid social gatherings. Elite sport is also tremendously affected: ongoing championships have been suspended and the major international events have been postponed. Most elite athletes are forced to train at home, on their own and mostly unsupervised. Some elite sports clubs have provided players with home-based training programs and/or organized video conferences for online training sessions lead by their fitness trainers. Here, Impellizzeri et al discuss the potential physiological changes due to COVID-19 home confinement on athlete health protection in elite sports.