{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T16:52:46Z","timestamp":1770742366321,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770595200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To analyze COVID-19 infection incidence and risk factors among Chinese national team members during overseas training and competitions (April\u2013October 2022) to inform prevention for international events.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A nationwide cross-sectional survey used electronic questionnaires distributed to 69 national teams. A total of 1,020 valid questionnaires were included for analysis, covering athletes, coaches, medical staff, team leaders, and other support personnel. The \u03c7\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      test was used to analyse the relationships between infection rates and variables, including individual factors, travel modes, accommodation conditions, and protective behaviors.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The overall infection rate was 35.5%. Infection rates differed significantly across occupational groups: athletes had the highest rate (37.9%), followed by coaches (29.8%) and team leaders (21.7%). Personnel who participated in both overseas training and competitions presented a significantly higher infection rate (47.9%) than did those who only participated in competitions (19.0%) (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001). Individuals vaccinated with 2 doses had the highest infection rate (48.6%), whereas those receiving \u22654 doses had the lowest infection rate (22.4%). \u03c7\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      analysis revealed significant risk factors for infection: sharing accommodation floors with foreign personnel, inadequate room ventilation, irregular room disinfection during training periods, taking nondirect flights, and inconsistent mask wearing.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Infection risk among national team members abroad clustered by role, assignment type, and behaviors. Elevated risk was linked to intensive training schedules, suboptimal implementation of prevention protocols, and frequent contact with foreign personnel. Multifaceted interventions\u2014source control, rigorous process management, and strict adherence to personal protective measures\u2014should be strengthened to reduce infection risk.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1700926","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T07:32:29Z","timestamp":1770622349000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Risk factors associated with COVID-19 infection among Chinese elite athletes during overseas training and competitions: a large-scale cross-sectional survey"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Jun","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Sports Nutrition Center, National Institute of Sports Medicine","place":["Beijing, China"]},{"name":"School of Exercise and Health, Shanghai University of Sport","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jing","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sports Nutrition Center, National Institute of Sports Medicine","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lianmei","family":"Jin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health Emergency Response Center, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qirong","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sports Nutrition Center, National Institute of Sports Medicine","place":["Beijing, China"]},{"name":"Key Lab of Sports Nutrition, General Administration of Sport of China","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0332627","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0332627","article-title":"Impact of COVID-19 on English football premier league: analyzing rankings and home advantage using extended Bradley-terry models","volume":"20","author":"Liu","year":"2025","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1016\/j.asmart.2020.07.006","article-title":"Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports and exercise","volume":"22","author":"Wong","year":"2020","journal-title":"Asia-Pac J Sports Med Arthrosc Rehabil Technol"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jiph.2023.03.026","article-title":"Healthcare policies, precautionary measures and outcomes of mass gathering events in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: expedited review","author":"Alahmari","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Infect Public Health"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jiph.2023.03.025","article-title":"COVID-19 infection risk assessment and management at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games: a scoping review","author":"Murakami","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Infect Public Health"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"960","DOI":"10.1001\/jamainternmed.2021.2114","article-title":"SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk among national basketball association players, staff, and vendors exposed to individuals with positive test results after COVID-19 recovery during the 2020 regular and postseason","volume":"181","author":"Mack","year":"2021","journal-title":"JAMA Intern Med"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1071","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2020-102433","article-title":"Athletes as community; 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