Einleitung

The conference topic "Sport Science in a Metropolitan Area" reflects the role of sport and physical activity in the Ruhr area, which is one of the largest multicultural urban agglomerations in the world and is heavily coined by industry. This environment results in tremendous sport scientific challenges, including the broad range from inactivity to intense physical stress, the trend of increased individuality in lifestyle and physical activity, as well as the inclusion of minorieties. Historically, some high-performance sports, such as professional football, have been an importand factor to strengthen the people's identification with our region. These topics will run as a thread through the congress and will be taken up by the four plenary sessions. Due to excellent submissions, there is an outstanding scientific programme consisting of four plenary sessions and 37 invited and exchange symposia on current topical issues in the field of sport-scientific research. 1,750 abstracts have been submitted from 60 countries. 1,600 abstracts were selected for the final programme and were allocated to 112 oral, 41 mini-oral and 30 conventional poster sessions, or assigned to e-poster presentations. Out of these contributions, 61 oral and 25 mini-oral presentations were selected for the finals of the ECSS Young Investigators Award (YIA). (geändert)