Knowledge Nuggets

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games officially open today and continue through Sunday, August 8. With 370 athletes and 131 coaches attending, this is the largest contingent of Canadian athletes at an Olympic Games since Los Angeles 1984.

Tokyo last hosted the Olympic Games in 1964. At that edition of the Games, Canada’s only gold-medalists were men’s pair rowers Roger Jackson and George Hungerford. As Canada’s largest rowing team in 25 years gears up for Tokyo 2020, Kai Langerfeld and Conlin McCabe will be looking to repeat history in the same event. The...

A new study shows fans prefer sport teams that built success over time more than teams that bought wins with purchased superstars. Potential fans valued the effort and hard work behind a gradually built team, and felt that gradually built teams would show more teamwork.

The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games are expected to be among the hottest ever recorded. As athletes prepare for the games, researchers have found that heat acclimatization is the best measure to protect health and performance. This can include 60 to 90 minutes of daily training in the heat for one to two weeks before...

The Summer 2021 SIRCuit is now available!  The SIRCuit is designed to highlight important research and insights to advance the Canadian sport system. With the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo on the horizon and the winter Games in Beijing just around the corner, this edition of the SIRCuit dives into issues and trends that will...

Sport climbing is scheduled to make its Olympic debut in Tokyo this summer. Research shows that sport climbing is a safe sport with low injury frequency. However, climbing on artificial surfaces rather than on real rock encourages more acrobatic movements that can increase the risk of injury.

During times of crisis, research suggests a clearly articulated vision of an organization’s core purpose can help streamline and prioritize decision making and adaptation. During COVID-19 restrictions, resilient sport organizations played a variety of roles beyond the provision of participation opportunities.

As temperatures begin to rise, many Canadians seek to cool off in a nearby body of water. Sadly, drowning is one of the leading causes of unintentional death for Canadian children ages one to four. This blog from the Red Cross provides three tips to keep children safe around water this summer, including creating barriers...

The upcoming Tokyo Games will provide a platform for Canadian athletes to shine. For many, their development path has not been a straight line from playground to podium. Learn about RBC Training Ground and Paralympian Search – two programs designed to support athlete development in Canada and help build the pipeline of future podium hopefuls.

For coaches, job insecurity can lead to reduced job and life satisfaction, decreased well-being, and burnout. Sport organizations can support the well-being of coaches through employment opportunities that are contractually secure and by limiting the number of temporary coaching contracts.