National team biathletes’ experiences of the menstrual cycle: “it’s something that needs to be heard”

Abstract

Objectives To describe national team biathletes’ experiences of their menstrual cycle (MC) while training and competing, and to identify factors to be considered in the development of policy and practice to support these athletes.Methods Participants included 18 national team biathletes (ages 17–32 years) who experience the MC. Following a qualitative description design, athletes participated in one-on-one semistructured interviews that were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using a content analysis process.Results Four descriptive themes represent the findings: (a) ‘A very under-rated part of performance and training’: Critical impacts of the MC on sport; (b) ‘It varies month to month’: Fluctuation in occurrence and impact of MC symptoms; (c) ‘Block out and get through it’: Managing the MC for performance; and (d) ‘For the next generation’: Improving policy and practice around the MC. Findings from this research outline actionable steps to support athletes who experience a MC, including developing mandatory MC education, increasing knowledge about the management of MC symptoms (eg, MC tracking, leakproof suits), and creating a fair point system of the overall biathlon season ranking allowing elimination of two race results that may have been affected by a health issue, such as adverse MC symptoms.Conclusions This research outlines the critical need for ‘macro’ level policies and practices that reduce the perceived impact of MC symptoms on athletes’ training and performance. Furthermore, individual variations described in this study highlight the importance of individualised approaches to supporting athletes as they navigate the MC alongside the demands of sport.