Rethinking Injury Risk: Why Injury Prevention in Sport Needs a Gender-And Sex-Specific Lens

Why It Matters

Understanding the broader, gender‑related drivers of injury enables more effective, equitable prevention strategies and informs policy, funding and education priorities across sport organizations.

Key Takeaways

• Expert panel identified 10 injury risk clusters for female athletes.
• Insufficient support‑staff knowledge ranked as most modifiable factor.
• Funding gaps and gendered environments amplify injury risk.
• Research, policy, and education needed for equitable prevention.
• Harassment and bias recognized as injury‑related stressors.

Pulse Analysis

Female participation in organized sport has surged, yet injury rates have risen in parallel. Traditional research has focused narrowly on anatomy and hormones, overlooking the social and structural realities that female athletes navigate daily. The International Olympic Committee’s FAIR (Female, woman, and girl Athlete Injury Prevention) consensus seeks to correct this blind spot by integrating gender‑sensitive perspectives into injury‑prevention science, a shift that mirrors broader calls for equity in sports medicine.

The study employed a mixed‑methods concept‑mapping approach, gathering 66 experts—including athletes, coaches, clinicians and administrators—from six continents. Participants generated 101 statements, which were sorted into ten thematic clusters ranging from biological factors to gendered communication and harassment. Notably, the cluster “Insufficient knowledge and expertise among support staff” emerged as the top priority for intervention, suggesting that education gaps may be more tractable than deep‑seated cultural biases. The diverse composition of the panel, with 85% cisgender female and 23% from low‑ and middle‑income nations, adds credibility to the findings and underscores the global relevance of gender‑aware injury prevention.

The implications are clear: sport governing bodies must allocate funding toward training for coaches and medical personnel, develop policies that combat harassment, and redesign environments that historically disadvantage women and girls. Multi‑level strategies—combining research, leadership, and equitable resource distribution—are essential to translate these insights into safer, more inclusive competition. By embedding gender‑specific considerations into prevention programs, the sport ecosystem can reduce injury incidence, improve athlete longevity, and set a new standard for evidence‑based, equitable practice.