THE EFFECT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON TURKISH WELL TRAINED CYCLIST’S PRE-COMPETITION ANXIETY LEVEL

Abstract

Abstract. Aim. The aim of this study is to examine national team level Turkish cyclist’s pre competition anxiety level before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods. Study held on the Turkish cyclists who is racing in international level. A total of 31 riders with mean age 18.25 ± 1.87; length 169.45 ± 7.73 cm and weight 61.18 ± 6.59 kg. In the study, the Turkish version of the “Sport Competition Anxiety Test-SCAT” developed by Rainer Martens in 1977 was used. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine the difference between the socio-demographic characteristics and SCAT scores of cyclist. Statistical significance was accepted as p <.05. Results. According to the findings, there is small difference between the anxiety scores of the cyclists before and after the pandemic, but it was no significant. It was concluded that the pandemic process did not statistically increase the anxiety of cyclists.
In addition, it was found that there was no significant difference between the pre competition anxiety levels before and after the pandemic in terms of gender, category, economic level, education level, mother's education level, place of residence variables and specialty. Conclusion. As a result, it was found that the COVID-19 pandemic did not have a significant effect on the racing anxiety of well-trained cyclists. This result shows that the competition anxiety level of experienced athletes who have been cycling for at least 6 years and the passivity during the five-six-month pandemic period do not affect the competition anxiety levels of the athletes. However, considering the possibility of prolongation of the pandemic process, research on this issue should continue in the long term.