An injury profile of elite ironman competitors

An injury questionnaire was administered to the 30 elite ironman competitors (mean age = 25.7 +/- 4.6 yrs) participating in a commercially sponsored seven race national series. Responses provided retrospective data from the preceding three years indicating the type, location, frequency, cause and severity of injuries sustained by ironmen, and associated these injuries with particular race components (run, swim, board, ski). Twenty self-reported questionnaires were returned for analysis that described a total of 67 injuries incurred by 19 subjects. Results indicated the following: (i) the most frequently injured body parts were the knee (n = 18) and shoulder (n = 14) with the lower extremity accounting for 55% of all injuries reported; (ii) knee, shin and calf injuries had a significant association with the run component and upper extremity injuries had a significant association with the swim component; (iii) running was perceived to be the most injurious race component in terms of the frequency and severity of injury; (iv) overtraining was perceived to be the main cause of injury; (v) tendinitis was perceived to be the main type of injury; (vi) athletes adjusted their training mode to accommodate injury so that total training volume could be maintained; and (vii) injury did not result in withdrawal from competition. Further research investigating the techniques used in the ironman event and their relationship to injury is recommended.