Editorial
Sport and exercise medicine and the Olympic health legacy
1 Centre for Sport and Exercise Science, Sheffield Hallam University, Collegiate Hall, Collegiate Crescent, Sheffield, UK, S10 2BP
2 Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Glossop Road, Sheffield, UK, S10 2JF
BMC Medicine 2012, 10:74 doi:10.1186/1741-7015-10-74
Published: 19 July 2012Abstract
London 2012 is the first Olympic and Paralympic Games to explicitly try and develop socioeconomic legacies for which success indicators are specified - the highest profile of which was to deliver a health legacy by getting two million more people more active by 2012. This editorial highlights how specialists in Sport and Exercise Medicine can contribute towards increasing physical activity participation in the UK, as well as how the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine might be a useful vehicle for delivering an Olympic health legacy. Key challenges are also discussed such as acquisition of funding to support new physical activity initiatives, appropriate allocation of resources, and how to assess the impact of legacy initiatives.
