Negative Training Responses During The Runners’ Career Could Cooperate in an Early Career Termination: A Case Study in Top-Level Female Runners From the Slovakian National Team

Purpose: The early drop-out in professional youth athletes is a complex and multi factors process and seems to be more common in individual sports with higher physical demands, such as the running disciplines. Also, it has previously been reported that youth female athletes presented a higher drop-out rate compared with males. The present study, therefore, investigated the causes of early-career termination and possible association with wellness and low energy availability in youth female runners. Methods: Data from four female runners (aged from 22 to 24 years) from the Slovakian national team in running disciplines who have ended their careers early were collected. A semi-structured interview was performed to explore multiple factors (advent athletics, training, regeneration, sleep, diet, health, emotions, motivation, communication, environmental pressure, coach, habits, reasons for ending an athletic career and a better relationship with the sport) and the questionnaire about wellness and low energy availability in females (LEAF-Q).   Results: The interview shows that the most common factors of early-career termination of a former runner were: an early specialization in the discipline, inadequate training dose-response (e.g., high intensity and insufficient recovery), pathological nutritional behaviour, health problems, psychological factors, and loss of motivation. The factors reported during the interview were associated with negative results of the wellness questionnaire (score 10±1.9) and with LEAF-Q (score 12±2.9). Conclusion: The study highlights the multi factors involved in early career termination. Based on the athletes’ reports, was possible to notice that the early sports specialization in running disciplines affected negatively their health, nutrition and psychological aspects, and could be triggered by higher training loads and insufficient recovery. Caution should be taken by coaches and professionals involved during the sports specialization, in order to minimize the negative impact of training routine on youth athletes and consequently avoid an early drop-out.