The carbon footprint of active sport participants

Researchers examining carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions (carbon footprint) in sport have focused on sport events and, to a lesser extent, sport teams, but provided only average or aggregate values. The author takes the perspective of active sport participants and considers the heterogeneity of individual sport participation behavior. Using online surveys, adult active sport participants (n = 6537) in 20 different sports with main residence in Germany were asked to report their sport-travel behavior in 2015, including traveling in the context of regular (weekly) activity, sport competitions/tournaments, league games, day trips, and training camps/vacations. Annual carbon footprints were estimated using information about travel distances and transportation means. The results revealed an average annual carbon footprint of 844 kg of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, with individual sports producing more emissions than team/racket sports. Participants in nature sports had the highest emission levels. Regression analyses revealed that environmental consciousness significantly reduced carbon footprint in individual sports, but not in team/racket and nature sports, supporting the existence of an environmental value-action gap. Activity years, club membership, weekly exercise hours, performance level, and income were mainly positively associated with annual carbon footprint, while gender was insignificant. The findings have implications for policy makers and managers in sport associations and clubs.     

Making orange green? A critical carbon footprinting of Tennessee football gameday tourism

ABSTRACT

Anthropogenic climate change is an imminent threat. In order to curb the effects of climate change, economic industries including tourism must assess their contributions to the overall phenomenon and develop creative solutions. As carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions represent a major reason why global tourism is contributing to climate change, carbon footprinting can help identify which aspects of individual tourism events are least sustainable. This case study seeks to assess the total carbon footprint of four seasons of American college football. The fan journey to the college football spectate represents a tourism experience and therefore can and should be assessed for its ecological impact. The subject of this case study is the University of Tennessee, an institution with one of the largest football stadiums in the United States. Using an extensive geographic sample of ticketing data from Tennessee’s home games during the 2015–2018 seasons, a carbon footprint was estimated for each game, each contributing polluter, and each season. The total season footprint over the four years was estimated to be 154,717,114?kg CO₂eq. This study presents both a methodology for studying spectator sporting events in sport tourism and a framework by which tourism can begin to assess its contributions to the global carbon footprint. It also demonstrates grounded consequences for often trivialized ideas of fandom and place-based identity. Additionally, it highlights the need for tourism organizations and governments to consider policy and management practices that account for and reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions.     

Environmental communications in New Zealand’s skiing industry: building social legitimacy without addressing non-local transport

This qualitative study investigates how skiers’ transport is addressed in environmental communications (ECs) produced by ski areas on New Zealand’s South Island. Ski areas can build social legitimacy by positioning themselves as pro-environmental. Skiers’ transport, which accounts for more CO₂ emissions than the daily operations of ski areas in New Zealand, is one of the most pressing issues facing the industry. The topic of skiers’ transport was explored via an analysis of the ski areas’ ECs in addition to semi-structured, in-depth interviews with managers from the ski areas and with skiers. The research found that the impacts of skiers’ non-local transport are largely ignored by both ski area managers and skiers. Ski areas are viewed as detached from transport networks, they do not face pressures from skiers to mitigate those impacts, and they are thus able to build social legitimacy by engaging in and communicating relatively simple pro-environmental initiatives (such as recycling). These findings demonstrate a need to reconceptualise what constitutes a sustainable sport tourism organisation in order to account for the salience of transport-related impacts and to consider the extent to which ski areas are responsible for mitigating emissions stemming from tourists’ transport.     

体育活动中碳足迹研究进展与实践应用

随着碳中和、碳达峰行动目标被纳入生态文明建设,环境可持续发展受到越来越多的关注。作为人类社会测量环境影响的重要指标之一,碳足迹方法的引入为体育可持续发展提供了丰富的数据支持和科学的理论依据。研究从碳足迹的概念出发,系统梳理了体育活动中碳足迹的研究进展与实践举措。学术研究方面:基于大型体育赛事的碳足迹研究是当前研究的核心内容,基于体育场馆和体育参与者的研究引入相关理论探讨场馆选址、个体差异与碳足迹排放量之间的关系。实践应用方面:国际奥委会和国际足联等体育组织是体育活动中碳足迹实践的引领者,体育全球化发展带动了各地区体育组织对赛事碳足迹的关注。研究认为:碳足迹应用推动体育发展从人类中心主义向生态中心主义转变,促进国际倡议与个体行动的统一,提供体育对环境影响的量化信息,并增进体育从业者对可持续发展的关注。     

High-resolution friction measurements of cross-country ski bases on snow

Participants in the sport of snow skiing devote considerable effort to reduce sliding friction of the ski. A large industry is devoted to providing products and ski preparation methods with claims of improved ski performance, sometimes at considerable expense. Despite this attention to the topic, there are very little data available to skiers that quantify the effect these products and methods have on reducing ski friction. Determining the coefficient of friction of a ski on snow presents a significant technical challenge. Our approach has been to develop a tribometer incorporating a series of proximity sensors to test commercially available ski equipment and waxes on natural snow. We developed a test protocol that significantly reduces the experimental noise associated with variable environmental conditions enabling us to differentiate the difference in friction between two pairs of skis with a resolution of 0.001. A large body of test data was acquired over a wide range of environmental conditions to quantify the effect of ski wax and base texturing treatments in terms of coefficient of friction in a way that is of practical use to skiers. An exercise physiology power model was used to estimate the ski race time difference that could be expected from changing the coefficient of friction.     

Incidence of injuries in professional snow sports: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose:The study aimed to conduct a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of injury incidence in professional skiers and snowboarders.Methods:We systematically searched PubMed,Web of Science,and MEDLINE for studies on injury incidence published from inception to April 2020.Injury data were extracted,alongside information on injury location,severity,type,cause,and sport discipline.Incidence of injuries was presented per 1000 athlete-days,with 95%confidence intervals(95%CIs).Results:The search identified 462 articles,and 22 were included in our review.The overall incidence of injuries among professional skiers and snowboarders was 3.49 per 1000 athlete-days(95%CI:2.97-4.01).Lower extremity had the highest injury incidence(1.54 per 1000 athletedays,95%CI:1.24-1.84).Incidence rates of slight,mild,moderate,and severe injuries were 0.26,0.31,0.57,and 0.59 per 1000 athlete-days,respectively.Contusion had the highest incidence rate(1.82 per 1000 athlete-days,95%CI:1.01-2.63).The most common cause of injury was contact trauma(3.20 per 1000 athlete-days,95%CI:1.32-5.08).Freestyle skiing had the highest incidence rate(6.83 per 1000 athlete-days,95%CI:4.00-9.66),and Nordic skiing had the lowest rate(2.70 per 1000 athlete-days,95%CI:1.94-3.46).Conclusion:Professional skiers and snowboarders have a substantial risk of sustaining injuries.Our findings can be used to inform the planning and provision of healthcare for elite participants in different snow sports.     

Similarities and differences in constraints and constraint negotiation among Japanese sport tourists: a case of masters games participants*

ABSTRACT

The purposes of this study were to examine (a) similarities and differences in constraints to and constraint negotiation for masters games (MG) participation, and (b) the relationships among constraints, constraint negotiation, and intention to participate in the World Masters Games 2021 Kansai, across international sport tourists, domestic sport tourists, and sport excursionists. An online survey was conducted with 449 Japanese people who participated in MGs within the last three years. Our results indicated that international sport tourists experienced higher levels of psychological, physiological, interpersonal, financial, tourism, commitment, MG-specific constraints than domestic sport tourists and sport excursionists, although physiological constraints did not differ between international and domestic sport tourists. Conversely, international and domestic sport tourists utilized tourism and MG-self-adaptation negotiation strategies more than sport excursionists. Lastly, constraints to and constraint negotiation for the past MG were not related to the intention of participation in the World Masters Games 2021 Kansai across the three groups. These results suggest that this typology of sport tourists – international, domestic, and excursionist – is an effective framework to understand constraints and negotiation as well as other behaviors and experiences of Japanese sport tourists.     

Social Support and Recovery from Sport Injury: Elite Skiers Share Their Experiences

Abstract

Research suggests that social support can be an important coping resource for athletes recovering from sport injury. Few studies have investigated this claim, however: To address this gap in the literature, 10 elite downhill skiers who had recovered from serious sport injuries were interviewed about the sources of stress associated with injury and the role of social support in recovery from sport injury. This paper presents the social support findings that emerged from this research¹. Content analyses of the social support data revealed that the skiers needed various types of emotional, informational, and tangible support from the occurance of injury through the return to full activity. Members of the treatment team, the ski team, and the skiers' home support networks provided social support throughout these phases. In general, the skiers were satisfied with the support received, indicating that it reduced distress and kept them motivated throughout recovery. The findings from this research have implications for the design of sport injury interventions.     

‘Playing with space’: a conceptual basis for investigating active sport tourism practices

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes a conceptual tool, the expression ‘playing with space’, for the analysis of active sport tourism as a meaningful social practice. The expression issues from practice theories and pragmatic understandings of space, which emphasize the processual and contextual dimensions of human action and seek to seize altogether the corporealities and shared conceptions that constitute action. On such views, sport tourists are considered as reflexive and embodied beings, enjoying sensations, mobilities and places, and constantly (re)making sense of their own practices. I argue that the notion of ‘play’ allows for a comprehensive understanding of the ways active sport tourists engage with space, where space is viewed as an object or material for this play. Three major dimensions of active sport tourism are then identified: a set of playful and game-like practices with global space resulting in shared imaginaries and large-scale mobilities; a kinaesthetic play, based on freedom and sensations and deeply engaged in the materiality of the places and the omnipresent media practices that support the other dimensions of play while being fully integrated into the experience of sport tourism. This conceptual framework is a way to better understand the motives and practices of sport tourists; it is also a way to underline wider trends of contemporary leisure cultures: such cultures are increasingly integrated into the daily spheres of activity, increasingly playful and increasingly mediatized.     

Reducing the carbon footprint of spectator and team travel at the University of British Columbia's varsity sports events

The carbon footprint of spectator and team travel was analyzed at small-scale varsity sports events held at the University of British Columbia. Sport management literature suggests a need for quantitative environmental impact studies of events, in particular to seek out transport footprint reduction opportunities. This study applies a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based approach to increase methodological rigour and transparency. We analyze travel patterns of spectators and teams and put forward several scenarios for impact reduction. Results show that UBC spectators had a smaller footprint than teams on a per person basis but a larger overall carbon footprint. Although only 4% of the spectators travelled by air, this constituted 52% of total spectator impact. We find the biggest opportunities for footprint reductions by spectators and teams alike are strategies that (a) reduce long-distance air travel, (b) increase vehicle occupancy rates, and (c) encourage low-emission travel mode choices.     

Prospective tourists’ risk perceptions and intentions to travel to a mega-sporting event host country with apparent risk

ABSTRACT

While the global appeal of the Olympic Games has attracted a massive amount of attention, this increased focus has resulted in heightened risk occurring around the event. Prospective tourists’ growing anxiety related to terrorism and political instability regarding a travel destination could have serious implications on tourism. This article aims to examine the relationship between tourists’ risk perceptions and their intention to travel to an Olympic host country with apparent risks of terrorism and political instability during and around the event period using the case of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games. Terrorism risk was found to have a negative impact on travel intention while political instability did not. The results suggest that potential terrorism risk is a vulnerable point for the host country, and host organisations’ collaborative risk management strategies for minimising potential threats and generating a safe destination image are necessary to attract a higher number of visitors around and during the Olympics. This study contributes to the sport and event tourism literatures by focusing on a specific case. As a result, the findings enable the authors to highlight the impact of terrorism and political instability on travel intentions of prospective tourists to a host country with apparent risks. More specifically, this research discusses the reason(s) for the impact of terrorism and political instability risks on the travel intentions, and calls upon the efforts of future Olympics and mega-sporting event host countries to mitigate the loss of international visitors and to boost global tourism during and after the event.     

Nutrition for winter sports

Winter sports are played in cold conditions on ice or snow and often at moderate to high altitude. The most important nutritional challenges for winter sport athletes exposed to environmental extremes include increased energy expenditure, accelerated muscle and liver glycogen utilization, exacerbated fluid loss, and increased iron turnover. Winter sports, however, vary greatly regarding their nutritional requirements due to variable physiological and physique characteristics, energy and substrate demands, and environmental training and competition conditions. What most winter sport athletes have in common is a relatively lean physique and high-intensity training periods, thus they require greater energy and nutrient intakes, along with adequate food and fluid before, during, and after training. Event fuelling is most challenging for cross-country skiers competing in long events, ski jumpers aiming to reduce their body weight, and those winter sport athletes incurring repeated qualification rounds and heats. These athletes need to ensure carbohydrate availability throughout competition. Finally, winter sport athletes may benefit from dietary and sport supplements; however, attention should be paid to safety and efficacy if supplementation is considered.     

我国冰雪项目青年运动员运动损伤流行病特点及致因

为预防、减少或避免我国冰雪项目青年运动员的运动损伤,运用运动医学领域中研究流行病的方法,对我国冰雪项目青年运动员的运动损伤特点及致因进行研究.研究结果表明,我国冰雪项目青年运动员运动损伤发生率较高,男性运动员运动损伤的发病率高于女性,运动损伤具有重复性和多发性的特点;青年冰球运动员和自由式滑雪运动员运动损伤发生率相对较高;膝关节、腰背部和踝关节是运动损伤的高发部位;运动损伤的类型呈现多样化,扭伤、擦伤、挫伤及摔伤较为常见;冰雪项目青年运动员的伤病以急性损伤和中、轻度损伤为主;动作技术失误是导致我国冰雪项目青年运动员运动损伤的主要致因.     

Examining the linkages between automobile use and carbon impacts of community-based ice hockey

Fossil fuels used in automobiles have generated over 15% of the carbon emissions worldwide (Nascimento et al., 2009) and driving represents the human activity contributing the most to air pollution (Barkenbus, 2009, Wiederkehr, 1995). As such, the purpose of this study was to generate understandings concerning the environmental impacts of ice hockey at the community level. Specifically, interviews with parents (n = 32) of minor “rep” ice hockey players on two teams (16 parents from “A” level and 16 parents from “AAA” level) in Ontario, Canada were conducted to elicit information on automobile usage for “away” game travel. Using this information, two carbon footprint calculators were employed (CarbonZero and PlanetAir) to ascertain the carbon footprint of these hockey players. The results of the investigation show that the teams journeyed 44,036 (“A” team) and 33,477 (“AAA” team) kilometres, respectively, for “away” games and the total environmental impact of this travel was approximately 20 tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂). Organizational and individual behavioural initiatives, to mitigate impacts, are discussed as are future research initiatives about this important issue.     

The relationship between sport tourists’ perceived value and destination loyalty: an experience-use history segmentation approach

ABSTRACT

Understanding active sport tourists’ profiles and nurturing their destination loyalty are important considerations in the tourism market. Loyal tourists are valuable because they tend to revisit a focal destination and elicit positive word-of-mouth. Focusing on a snow-based active sport tourism context, this study was conducted to examine (1) the usefulness of experience-use history (EUH) as a segmentation tool and (2) the relationship between perceived value factors (i.e. quality, emotional response, monetary price, behavioral price, and destination reputation) and destination loyalty in each EUH group. Data were collected from the Niseko ski resort in Japan (N?=?328). Based on the EUH variables (i.e. length and frequency of snow-based sport participation), participants were categorized into four segments (i.e. novice, short-active, long-inactive, and expert). The results showed significant differences among EUH groups in terms of their socio-demographics (e.g. gender, age, and income). A series of regression analyses also showed that each segment’s destination loyalty was uniquely enhanced by perceived value factors. Specifically, perceived quality was a significant antecedent of destination loyalty for sport tourists in the novice group. For those in the short-active, long-inactive, and expert groups, perceived emotional response significantly predicted destination loyalty. Perceived reputation of the destination was also important to enhance destination loyalty for the short-active group whereas perceived monetary price was positively associated with the long-inactive group’s destination loyalty. Marketing managers in snow-based sport tourism destinations can utilize the findings to increase the loyalty of active sport tourists, which will improve their competitiveness in the marketplace.     

Biomechanical analysis of different starting strategies utilized during cross-country skiing starts

The present study was designed to analyse and compare the kinetics and kinematics associated with three different starting strategies during classic cross-country ski racing. Inside a ski tunnel, 12 elite male skiers performed three sets of three 38?m starts. Each set included one start using: double poling only (DP), diagonal stride only (DIA) and freely chosen (FREE) (i.e. where subjects used the strategy or combination of strategies they felt was fastest) in random order. The first 18?m was performed on a series of force plates that measured horizontal and vertical forces followed by 20?m of a standard snow track. Additionally, cycle characteristics and joint angles were measured. DIA and FREE were faster over 38?m than DP (P?.01). Net horizontal impulse (taking into account both positive and negative impulses) 5–10?m after the start was lower during DP than during DIA and FREE (both P?<?.05). All subjects skied faster when using only DIA for the entire 38?m. Furthermore, the sum duration and frequency of propulsive contacts over the first 18?m was less in DP than DIA and FREE (P?相似文献   

东北地区冰雪运动休闲旅游服务体系构建

文章在广泛访谈游客、滑雪运动发烧友、旅游局管理人员、滑雪场经营管理人员、冰雪运动俱乐部经营人员的基础上,构建了包括服务管理系统、服务供给系统、旅游产品系统、服务内容系统在内的东北地区冰雪运动休闲旅游服务体系,并提出了实现区域合作的方向,以期为促进东北地区冰雪运动休闲旅游的健康发展提供参考。     

Biomechanical determinants of cross-country skiing performance: A systematic review

ABSTRACT

Cross-country skiing is a complex endurance sport requiring technical skills, in addition to considerable physiological and tactical abilities. This review aims to identify biomechanical factors that influence the performance of cross-country skiers. Four electronic databases were searched systematically for original articles in peer-reviewed journals addressing the relationship between biomechanical factors (including kinematics, kinetics, and muscle activation) and performance while skiing on snow or roller skiing. Of the 46 articles included, 22 focused exclusively on the classical technique, 18 on the skating technique, and six on both. The indicators of performance were: results from actual or simulated races (9 articles); speed on specific tracts (6 articles); maximal or peak speed (11 articles); skiing economy or efficiency (11 articles); and grouping on the basis of performance or level of skill (12 articles). The main findings were that i) cycle length, most often considered as a major determinant of skiing speed, is also related to skiing economy and level of performance; ii) higher cycle rate related with maximal speed capacity, while self-selected cycle rate improves skiing economy at sub-maximal speeds; iii) cross-country skiing performance appears to be improved by joint, whole-body, ski, and pole kinematics that promote forward propulsion while minimizing unnecessary movement.     

从旅游者认知角度探析滑雪旅游保险发展对策

滑雪旅游作为旅游的一个重要组成部分,越来越受到大众的重视,在迅速发展的同时,滑雪旅游保险问题也越来越突出。通过运用文献研究、实地考察、个人访谈和问卷调查等研究方法,以滑雪旅游大众为主体,从旅游者认知的角度对滑雪旅游保险市场进行分析。指出旅游者存在对滑雪旅游风险防范意识淡薄、投保意识不足、对滑雪旅游保险缺乏信任、缺乏滑雪旅游保险知识等认知问题。提出加大宣传力度,提高旅游者风险意识;完善营销供应体系及终端服务;整顿与规范旅游赔付,建立多元化旅游保险纠纷处理机制;加强相关部门监督管理作用,推进《旅游法》的实施等促进滑雪旅游保险发展的对策和建议。旨在提高滑雪旅游者对滑雪旅游保险的认知和需求程度,促使滑雪旅游者积极有效地参加滑雪旅游保险,规范和推进滑雪旅游保险市场的发展。     

黑龙江省对俄冰雪旅游产品开发研究

近年来随着俄罗斯人民生活条件的改善及收入的增加,俄罗斯人民向往领略中国古老文明文化和自然资源的需求越来越强烈。对于俄罗斯旅游者来说,黑龙江省在旅游时间和价格,以及具有北疆特色的冰雪旅游资源产品方面具有较强的优势。黑龙江省应该在充分分析俄罗斯来华边境旅游者的旅游需求偏好的前提下,开发出具有黑龙江省特色的冰雪旅游供给产品,使其偏好达到效用的最大化。