Assistants Professors of University of Évora and integrated researchers of CHRC awarded in the Sports Science Awards, assigned by COP and Millennium bcp Foundation

Assistants Professors at the Department of Sports and Health of University of Évora and integrated researchers of CHRC, Bruno Gonçalves and Hugo Folgado were awarded first place in the “Physiology and Biomechanics” category of the Sports Science Awards, awarded by the Olympic Committee of Portugal (COP) and by the Millennium bcp Foundation, in partnership with Visão magazine with their study “Quantification of exposure to interpersonal contact in team sports during the COVID-19 pandemic through automatic tracking systems”.

“Our awarded study presents a methodology which can be used to evaluate the respiratory exposure time which occurs during the interpersonal contact and afterwards, it’s evaluated the risk stratification of the practice and competition inside different sports or physical activity, contributing to the planning of different activities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study used a football match as an example of a practical context and through cinematic elements collected by automatic tracking systems, the interpersonal exposure between players and referee was quantified. We proved that a football match doesn’t show evidence of being a high-risk activity. 

It’s an innovative approach that contributes to the deepening of knowledge between group sports and the associated risk in an adverse epidemiological context. This study presents a methodology which allows access to relevant information to understand the risk of transmission in different moments of interpersonal contact and could contribute to make more accurate non-pharmacological measures to prevent infection.

We thank and congratulate the Olympic Committee of Portugal (COP) for valuing national scientific production and encouraging researchers to share the results of their studies.” – said Professor Bruno Gonçalves.

Still within the category "Physiology and Biomechanics", Assistant Professor at the Department of Sports and Health of University of Évora and integrated researcher of CHRC, Orlando Fernandes was awarded with a Honorable Mention for his study “Development and validation of an Inertial Measurement Unit when applied in the 40m speed test, with athletes who belong to the High-Performance Athletics”
Access to the COP news here: https://comiteolimpicoportugal.pt/noticias/detalhe-da-noticia/?id=NEW-d49ccbfb-da37-41c5-a643-9bd50e2dd067