Early Sport Engagement in Elite Figure Skaters

The lack of research on athlete well-being and the impact of historical training in early specialization athletes was a catalyst for this investigation. Chapter 1 provides background information on high-performance child athletes and presents the rationale for this study. Chapter 2 investigates athletes' training, competition, and injury histories to understand the development of elite figure skaters. Utilizing elements of the Exposure to Sport Scale, data were collected from 23 elite figure skaters across Canada in both Junior and Senior levels of competition. Results showed high variability in our small sample size and revealed no clear path to excellence in figure skating. Chapter 3 positions our findings relative to current literature on high-performance child athletes and discusses how National and Provincial sport organizations can utilize this study to support coaches and parents in monitoring athletes for adverse training affects.