Abstract

The Olympic Games represents the pinnacle of most athletes’ careers and as the memories of Beijing 2008 fade, the focus now is very clearly on Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 and the preparation programmes that will lead to optimal performance. Over the last 25 years, there has been a significant growth in the importance of sports science in assisting, improving, and monitoring athlete preparation for the Olympic Games. Most individual athletes and teams will have several sport scientists who are integral to both the preparation phase and at the Olympic Games themselves. In this special issue, we have brought together a number of review papers from several disciplines with a coherent focus on optimizing preparation for Olympic competition. [...] Overall, the eclectic mix of papers from the different sports science disciplines presented in this special issue provide a good overview of how science can impact on the selection, training, and preparation of Olympic athletes. In light of the everdecreasing margins between success and failure, it is likely that science will play an increased role in ensuring that athletes are prepared optimally for the demands of Olympic competition. Wörtliche Textpassagen