Long term health of Olympians is prioritised by WOA and FIMS 

Olympians to benefit as organisations sign four-year memorandum of understanding

Lausanne, Switzerland – 6 December 2021: 

The World Olympians Association (WOA) and the International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS) have agreed to work together on projects that benefit the long-term health of Olympians and that engage Olympians to promote healthy and active lifestyles in their communities. FIMS’ world leading sports medical and research network will help build on WOA’s existing work on Olympians health including its global WOA Olympians Health Study.

Through their new agreement WOA and FIMS will work together to:

• Promote the Olympians Health Study publications that highlight the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and analyse the risk factors associated with musculoskeletal health issues
• Expand the Olympians Health Study to collect and analyse data on other areas of Olympians’ health both physiological and psychological
• Engage Olympians in mentoring projects that protect and improve the mental health and wellbeing of Olympians and elite athletes using existing mental health and wellbeing guides and toolkits produced by the Olympic Movement
• Ensure that the promotion of active and healthy lifestyles by Olympians is central to sport legacy programmes including WOA Grants

Speaking about the signing of the new Memorandum of Understanding with FIMS, WOA President Joël Bouzou OLY said: “The health and wellbeing of Olympians at all stages of their lives is at the heart of what the World Olympians Association is about. This agreement with FIMS will bring huge benefits to Olympians. Through our work together we will be able to better determine how to both protect and improve their physical and mental health.

FIMS President Fabio Pigozzi said: “Our world-leading network of sports medicine practitioners and researchers allied with the WOA’s OLY network gives us the capacity to produce ground-breaking studies, interventions and recommendations which will benefit Olympians and elite athletes and will allow us to give Olympians the tools to make a real difference to the health and wellbeing of their communities.”