PURPOSE This study assessed elite Taekwondo athletes’ physical fitness and developed reference standards for both their basic and specialized physical fitness. METHODS Data for analysis were collected from 870 athletes: from national teams, 123 elite Taekwondo athletes from the Performance Analysis and Assessment System (PAAS) administrator website (1999–2020); from regional sports centers, 731 collegiate and general division elite Taekwondo athletes (2015–2019); and from Y University, 16 elite Taekwondo athletes. Through measurement items’ selection and categorization, 20 physical fitness items were selected for the reference standards’ development, including 9 for basic fitness and 11 for specialized fitness. Taekwondo weight classes were divided into two: light + middle (fin, fly, bantam, feather) and middle + heavy (light, welter, middle, heavy). RESULTS Descriptive statistics for basic and specialized physical fitness items were categorized by gender and athletes’ fitness level. The reference standards’ development was aligned with existing standards, integrating the Cajori physical fitness 5-levels. It also introduced minimum physical fitness reference standards and target achievement reference standards for evaluating elite Taekwondo athletes’ physical fitness. CONCLUSIONS The reference standards proposed here can serve as objective indicators in selection of national representative athletes and also provide foundational data to establish fitness goals and evaluate future elite athletes’ physical fitness.
PURPOSE Recently, local governments have demonstrated an increased interest in sports cities to strategically ensure sustainable urban competitiveness, revitalize the local economy, and improve residents’ quality of life. Therefore, this study identifies key factors and their priorities for building a sustainable sports city image in noncapital local governments based on city branding and local governance theories. METHODS Data were collected from a panel of 15 experts in sports cities using modified Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process and analyzed using SPSS 23.0, Excel, and the cloud-based research automation platform SSRA, obtaining means, standard deviations, content validity ratios, interquartile ranges, stability, convergence, consensus, and consistency ratios. RESULTS The Delphi survey produced 6 key factors and 27 items. The key factors, according to relative importance, were as follows: “securing adequate financial resource,” “support from local government,” “revitalization of community-based sports activities,” “establishment governance among stakeholders,” “efforts toward sports city branding,” and “promotion of sports industry.” For each factor, important items were “mayoral interest and commitment,” “building cooperative networks with sport federations, local sports associations, and education offices,” “sufficient budgetary support from the local government,” “development of sports infrastructure,” “attracting professional sports teams,” and “designation and development of locally specialized sports.” CONCLUSIONS Local governments should first establish structural foundations by securing sufficient budgets and providing administrative support, among other tasks, as a starting point for designing sports city policies. When branding strategies that systematically strengthen a sports city’s identity and symbolism are organically linked based on these structural conditions, the effectiveness and sustainability of sports city policies can be further enhanced.
PURPOSE This study sought to examine the psychological responses of nextgeneration national team athletes to injuries as well as on-site coping strategies and explore effective ways to apply these in practice. METHODS A total of 60 nextgeneration national team athletes and 5 national team coaches participated in indepth interviews and answered semistructured questionnaires to better understand psychological responses to injury. The collected data were then subjected to semantic and inductive content analysis. RESULTS The data produced three main themes: perceptions of injury (positive and negative), psychological responses to injury, and coping strategies such as rehabilitation processes and injury prevention. Analysis of negative psychological responses generated three categories: psychological withdrawal (104/58.4%), slumps (37/20.8%), and trauma (37/20.8%). Meanwhile, all positive psychological responses fell under one theme: positive attitude (28/100%). Additionally, an examination of national team coaches’ perceptions of player injuries highlighted three key areas: causes of injury (loss of concentration, psychological pressure, and arousal during competition), coaches’ response processes (immediate responses and hindering factors), and injury management strategies for field application (internal and external measures). CONCLUSIONS Psychological factors that emerge during the injury process of next-generation national team athletes must be identified to understand the challenges they face and allow coaches to implement appropriate support strategies in response to sports injuries.
PURPOSE This study investigated the associations among sociodemographic factors, physical activity (PA) types and frequencies, and various mental health indicators among adolescents. METHODS Participants included 45,006 adolescents who answered the online 2024 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Mental health– related variables, such as perceived sadness and despair, suicidal ideation, perceived loneliness, and generalized anxiety disorder diagnosis, were analyzed in relation to sociodemographic factors. Associations with PA type and frequency were examined as well. The data underwent simple and multiple logistic regression analyses, and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS First, sadness and despair perceptions significantly differed by gender, academic achievement, residence type, student classification, and study time. Adolescents who performed low-intensity PA ≥4 days per week and high-intensity PA 1–3 days or ≥4 days per week had significantly lower odds of experiencing sadness and despair. Second, suicidal ideation was significantly associated with gender, academic achievement, socioeconomic status (SES), residence type, urban vs. rural classification, student classification, and study time. Adolescents who engaged in low-intensity PA ≥4 days per week and high-intensity PA 1–3 days or ≥4 days per week displayed a significantly lower likelihood of suicidal ideation. Third, loneliness perceptions significantly varied by gender, academic achievement, economic SES, type of residence, urban vs. rural classification, student classification, and study time. Engaging in low-intensity PA ≥4 days per week was significantly associated with lower odds of perceived loneliness. Finally, the diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder was significantly associated with gender, academic achievement, SES, residence type, student classification, and study time. Performing low-intensity PA ≥4 days per week and high-intensity PA 1–3 days or ≥4 days per week was significantly linked to a lower likelihood of a generalized anxiety disorder diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS Regular PA is an effective strategy for promoting adolescent mental health; specifically, appropriate exercise intensity and supportive environments for adolescents’ PA play a critical role in improving their mental health.
