In early 2020, a new viral outbreak began to spread internationally. On January 30, 2020, according to the International Health Regulations (World Health Organization from now on World Health Organization, 2020a), the outbreak was declared by World Health Organization (2020b) as “a public health emergency of international concern present in 18 countries, mainly in Europe.” Countries implemented control measures to minimize the risk of transmission and spread of the virus, such as closing schools, canceling the large meeting, suspending social and sporting events, and confining citizens to their homes. The effects of the epidemic caused by COVID-19 have been emerging as the situation evolved rapidly (Epidemiology Working Group for NCIP Epidemic Response, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020).

In Spain, on 13 March, 2 days after the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the Council of Ministers decreed a “state of alarm” for the entire national territory, provided by the article 1,165 of the Constitution (Constitución española, 1978). In this process, people were confined in their homes, away from the social environment for 99 days to limit the spread of the virus, as a crucial public health measure. The effects of such lockdown raised significant mental health risks, due to an uncertainty associated with increased negative feelings (Lades et al., 2020), as well as high emotional impact (Lima et al., 2020; Xiang et al., 2020). Previous studies in Spain found that between 15.8 and 21.6% of the general population showed depressive, anxious, and/or post-traumatic symptoms during the first month of lockdown (González-Sanguino et al., 2020). From the physical health point of view (Chen et al., 2020), this situation leads to the appearance of negative effects associated with inactivity, sedentary lifestyles, increased consumption of high-calorie foods, and poor sleep quality, thereby favoring the physical deconditioning of the general population (Mera et al., 2020). From June 21, 2020, Spain ended the state of alarm and began to live in the stage known as “new normality” or post-lockdown, a battery of measures to prevent, contain, and coordinate actions to deal with the health crisis caused by COVID-19 (Royal Decree-Law 21/2020 of 9 June. BOE, 2020).

The effects of lockdown in the new situation could be specific to elite athletes compared to the general population. Athletes who have reached a high level of professionalism (Brackenridge, 2004) are committed to sport up to 40 h per week, so that sport practice has a fundamental role in their lives. Due to the global public health circumstances caused by COVID-19, the Tokyo Olympic Games scheduled for July 2020, as well as all international competitions, had to be postponed [(Schinke et al., 2020) and as (Evans et al., 2020), p. 90] noted, “There is little doubt that the everyday lives and practices of sports participants, not least athletes, have had to change, pause or even cease as a result of the pandemic.” The emergency health measures adopted in Spain caused an important disruption in their sporting careers, training plans, and competitions in a sudden and unforeseen manner. Both the situation of lockdown experienced and the current situation, where the athletes had to adapt very quickly, could have caused significant changes in their sporting practice, quality of life, and emotional state. This experience could have a direct impact on their sporting performance and other dimensions related to their well-being, which is even more relevant given that the Olympic Games are coming up in July 2021 and international competitions are returning.

In an athletic career, it is necessary to be aware of the transitions faced by the athlete (Stambulova and Wylleman, 2015). Special attention should be paid to the so-called non-normative transitions, due to the high level of uncertainty involved, such as the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its consequences not expected. The effects that an involuntary break can have on the professional life of athletes are similar to the effects of an injury (decreasing the health status, interruption of the athletic career, loss of professional status and economic income, and so on). It is a sport-inherent fact, whether it is experienced as a catastrophe, as a challenge, or sometimes as an avoiding mechanism from stressful situations or elevated competitive anxiety (De la Vega, 2003; Stambulova et al., 2020). Therefore, the health crisis situation experienced by COVID-19 represents a challenging period for athletes, with possible effects on their lives and professional career, potentially leading to changes in several dimensions, such as physical and physiological, motor skills, psychosocial and self-identity, relationships, performance, motivation and aspirations, organizational-occupational and micro- and macro-cultural issues (Samuel et al., 2020). In this line, the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games has meant an important change and adjustment of their planning for some athletes, being a good opportunity to further improve their performance or recover from injuries they might have suffered (Stambulova et al., 2020; Taku and Arai, 2020). Therefore, it is necessary to understand how much the sporting practice of elite athletes has changed and the impact this might have on both their physical and psychological well-being as a consequence of a prolonged period of lockdown.

Scientific literature regarding elite athletes and their mental health during the period of social isolation (Di Fronso et al., 2020; Pons et al., 2020; Schinke et al., 2020; Stambulova et al., 2020) showed a high concern for athletes who planned not only their training for the Olympic Games, but also for other qualifying competitions. Researchers have questioned how uncertainty about missing their Olympic and other international competitions may affect the mood of athletes (Samuel et al., 2020; Schinke et al., 2020). It is argued that these changes increased the feeling of uncertainty, confusion, and frustration, and made it difficult to set concrete goals (Taku and Arai, 2020). In countries like Italy, elite athletes (Di Fronso et al., 2020) showed that the pandemic had a strong negative impact on both perceived stress and psycho-biosocial states. These harmful effects observed in both women and men were caused by the unique characteristics and demands of the emergency period. In Spain, young athletes, mainly female athletes, suffered a negative impact on their mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown (Pons et al., 2020). Also in Spain, a case study conducted with a confined Paralympic athlete in an ultra-marathon event did not show high levels of anxiety, revealing how dependent it is on the context or reality where the athlete is involved (Belinchón de Miguel et al., 2019).

Apparently, the loss of routines in lives of athletes has affected both their mental and physical states (Taku and Arai, 2020). In addition, in order to stablish and maintain an optimal performance, preparatory, control, and official competitions are an important tool (Mujika et al., 2018). Consequently, the absence of competitions has a negative impact on the athletic and competitive performance of athletes (Jukic et al., 2020). Although most athletes continued their daily training, two out of three athletes trained individually or without professional coaching. More than half of the athletes were training at a moderate exercise intensity, with a lower-than-normal training load, resulting in deconditioning, being a challenge for subsequent reconditioning in post-lockdown period (Pillay et al., 2020). In addition, attending to the motor skills dimension and the detraining or partial losses in important adaptations, the training modifications could have led to reductions in speed, technical accuracy, sensorimotor coordination, and movement flow (Tran et al., 2017; Desiderio and Bortolazzo, 2020; Jukic et al., 2020).

Concerning the well-being of athletes, it is necessary to highlight studies exploring the perceived impact on athletes due to measures of social distancing and the emotional, mental, social, and physical components related to well-being that may have been affected (Brooks et al., 2020; Gupta and McCarthy, 2021; Woodford and Bussey, 2021). The contribution of Woodford and Bussey (2021) stated that the lockdown provided the athletes with a rest period, allowing them to think about their sporting participation and make the necessary changes in their lives that would protect their well-being during the lockdown and post-lockdown periods.

In this context, it is necessary to understand the impact of lockdown on the physical and mental health of athletes in the post-lockdown period. Likewise, it is important to know how these poor training conditions may have interfered with their sporting lives (Pillay et al., 2020), as well as the existence of uncertainty due to the cancelation or delay of important competitions (Samuel et al., 2020) and the social distancing from coaches and teammates (Graupensperger et al., 2020).

Most of the studies in athletes published to date have been conducted during the lockdown period (Abenza-Cano et al., 2020; Corsini et al., 2020; Jukic et al., 2020; McGuine et al., 2021; Samuel et al., 2020; Taku and Arai, 2020) and some of them, in the final period, when athletes were very close to reactivate their sporting activity (Pillay et al., 2020), but there is little scientific evidence on the consequences perceived by athletes in the post-lockdown period and the impact it may be having on their physical and mental health and quality of life, taking into account the proximity of the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. Attending this need in the scientific literature, the main objectives in this study were (a) to determine the effects of the COVID-19 health crisis on Spanish elite athletes related to (a.1) sports practice, (a.2) health, life quality, and performance perception, (a.3) emotional state in the current situation of post-lockdown as well as (b) to identify the profile of the athletes with the greatest difficulties in this period, to whom the necessary attention and help should be given.

The descriptive data from all the variables are shown in Supplementary Table 1. These results are presented as N and percentages, median and interquartile range, or mean and standard deviation, depending on the type of variable. Five comparative categorical groups were established for analyzing all the results in this study: gender, modality, best result achieved, student-athlete, and high-performance expertise.

The health crisis caused by COVID-19 raised a series of hitherto unknown circumstances in the world of elite sport, as the population had to be confined to their homes (for more than 3 months, in the case of Spain). It also meant the delay and/or cancelation of sporting events all over the world, with the postponement of the Olympic Games for the first time in its history, being an example of the magnitude of this crisis worldwide. A large number of retrospective studies were carried out during the lockdown period, trying to understand the problems athletes were facing and how they could affect their physical and mental health. To complement these studies and the problems that have become evident, it is necessary to know what consequences have been produced on the lives months of athletes after exceptional circumstances. For this purpose, the present results extend previous knowledge on the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic by providing new evidence on the physical status, quality of life, and mental health of Spanish top-level athletes who, after a long lockdown period, had to return to their sporting lives in a new context.

Attending to physical health, the major increase in the resting time that Spanish athletes dedicated during the lockdown period seems to be a relevant aspect to be taken into account. According to previous studies with elite athletes (Pillay et al., 2020), a significant increase in rest time during lockdown characterized by sedentary activities is claimed. Although athletes were assigned to individual training plans during the lockdown, they reduced and adapted those training in order to accommodate self-isolation and due to the closure of sports facilities and gyms (Mohr et al., 2020). In this case, both genders significantly increased their rest days in the lockdown period compared to the previous period. In post-lockdown period, it is observed that athletes, due to the progressive incorporation to their daily activities, even with a decrease in rest days compared to those in lockdown, continued to rest around 1 day more than pre-lockdown period, indicating that certain habits are not recovered quickly or possibly that the return to training has been carried out in a progressive and scheduled manner by the trainers, aware that after a quarantine, athletes are more likely to get injured (Jukic et al., 2020). In this line, studies focused on young athletes in the United States reported that women were less physically active than men during the lockdown period and had more sedentary behaviors, which could be related to factors such as lack of social interaction, increased economic uncertainty (McGuine et al., 2021), as well as the existence of implicit gender inequalities during the pandemic (Evans et al., 2020).

It should also be noted the rest days of team sports athletes, which were longer compared to individual sports athletes during the lockdown period, coinciding with the study by Pons et al. (2020) focused on young athletes in Spain. Lower levels of physical activity were observed in favor of sedentary activities, due to greater limitations for practicing, as well as the possibility that individual sports athletes could continue to participate in their sports when physical distance restrictions were established and, therefore, were not affected to the same extent as team sports athletes.

Also, noteworthy are the results in student-athletes, characterized by pursuing academic studies at the same time as their sporting careers and are framed within the so-called dual career (Pallarés et al., 2011), where a high level of effort and many hours of dedication are required to achieve such a conciliation. Student-athletes maintain a complex relationship between studies and sport, maintaining a special organization to achieve academic and sporting goals simultaneously (Álvarez Pérez and López Aguilar, 2012; López de Subijana et al., 2015; Blanco García and Burillo Naranjo, 2017). During the lockdown, they also spent more time on rest-related activities (days and hours) compared to the pre-lockdown normality. Similar studies (Meza and López, 2020) also stated that student-athletes during lockdown significantly decreased their physical activity (33.6%) in favor of more sedentary activities compared to the pre-lockdown physical activity.

In any case, they duplicated the practice of physical activity compared to non-athlete university students. Apparently, despite the loss of physical activity, the student-athletes followed the recommendations to exercise at home during the lockdown, but similar to the results of the present research, the sedentary activities could be related to increasing the time dedicated to studies, with the aim of synchronizing the learning processes in their future profession.

On the contrary, these statements would disagree with the results reported by Izzicupo et al. (2021), a study carried out during lockdown in several European countries focused on student-athletes. An overall reduction in study time was observed during the lockdown, even though student-athletes living in countries under severe contagion (as is the case in Spain) were more involved in studies than those living in countries experiencing mild contagion, a reduction that the authors found contradictory when considering the greater availability of time at home.

Related to progressively returning to sport, it is observed that there are differences between the hours that athletes dedicated to training before the lockdown and in the post-lockdown. The athletes with the highest competitive level, in individual sports and with medium and broad experience in the elite, significantly reduced their daily and weekly training hours after the lockdown by returning to training. For this reason, the main responsible for the athletes’ return to training and competitions should have specific knowledge of the different profiles and how the COVID-19 health emergency situation may have influenced their lives. Along the same lines, Desiderio and Bortolazzo (2020) stated that “activity must be resumed slowly and by listening to the athlete, as there is still uncertainty as to whether we will return to the old habits of the old ‘normality,’ or whether the pandemic will give rise to a new stage with new lifestyles that will define the future” (p. 54).

The health perception of athletes in the post-lockdown period after the difficulties experienced during the lockdown period, is a factor that has been taken into account through two summary components: physical and psychological (Vilagut et al., 2008). Accordingly, differences were found between genders, with women scoring significantly lower than men, compared to their perception in pre-lockdown. Related to the performance perception, both genders, but more pronounced in females, showed a significant decrease comparing pre–post lockdown periods.

Although the health and performance perception in athletes after the lockdown period has not yet been extensively studied, a study carried out during lockdown with more than 13,000 youth athletes (McGuine et al., 2021), states that female athletes described lower life quality levels than males. In addition, following the study by Bowes et al. (2020), it seems that the gender should be considered in those periods, as women perceived to have less access to sports equipment than men and were also more affected by reduced or even suspended salaries, affecting their life quality and performance perception. According to Baldwin (2020), the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on elite sport of women and has increased inequality, with possible spillover effects for the future. Therefore, it seems necessary to increase the number of studies focused on the problems experienced by female athletes during lockdown and the post-lockdown period.

Considering the competitive level of athletes, those with higher level (medalists) reported a significant decrease in the health and performance perception compared to pre-lockdown. It could be interpreted that these athletes were those who had Olympic qualification as one of their next objectives. Therefore, after 4 years of preparation, the postponement was an added stressor. In this line, studies affirm that this situation could cause a loss of concentration, motivation, and the desire to continue preparing for the Olympics with the same energy as before, affecting, among other variables, their health and performance perception (Clemente-Suárez et al., 2020). It should be noted that individual-sports athletes perceived themselves to be less healthy than team sports athletes. Student-athletes also perceived a decrease in the health and performance perception, as well as athletes with an average experience (3–10 years in elite sport).

The health of athletes was possibly also influenced by emotional problems experienced during the lockdown period, the reduced time dedicated to training, and the training performance with less attention and motivation compared to pre-lockdown. Social distancing seems to be one of the main reasons for the appearance of such problems (Burgos et al., 2020). Studies performed during lockdown (Graupensperger et al., 2021) affirm the relevance of the social connection and support of teammates in the emotional state of athletes and its relation to sport identity, understood as the strength that makes people identify with and accept their role as athletes (Brewer et al., 1993).

This perceived loss of social connection and support (Brewer et al., 2010) could increase the risk of depression (Sanders and Stevinson, 2017), by threatening their identity. Chilean cyclists during lockdown (Burgos et al., 2020) emphasized the anxiety caused by being unable to train on a regular basis, leading them to implement strategies to generate motivation and not lose the competitive level they already had.

Focusing on the post-lockdown period, differences between the limitations experienced in training during lockdown (high degree) and the post-lockdown (low degree) were observed for both genders, also reported by medalists, individual sports, student-athletes, and those with more experience in the elite. It seems clear then the importance of maintaining adequate levels of physical activity in professional athletes, as in addition to positive physiological effects, sports practice enhances psychological well-being. Moreover, strategies should be incorporated to reduce stress and anxiety about returning to competition, respecting each individual’s own time, avoiding injuries and frustrations to quickly reach the competitive level they showed prior to lockdown (Olmedilla et al., 2014; Kalazich Rosales et al., 2020; Mera et al., 2020). Regarding emotional state of athletes for the entire sample (both genders; medalists or non-medalists; individual-team sports; short and medium sporting experience), moderate values in the negative emotional state during the lockdown period were found, being positively correlated with the levels of tension, depression, and stress reported later on. Despite this, they maintained moderately high levels of positivity and energy, possibly due to the novelty of the situation in the first 5–6 weeks, the increased time dedicated to entertainment and the release from work responsibilities in many cases.

These negative emotional values decreased significantly in the post-lockdown period, especially in men, medalists, student-athletes, both modalities (individual-team), and athletes with 0–3 years of experience. This correlates with a decrease in training limitations, and an inverse correlation in the positive emotional state and energy level, both increasing significantly in the post-lockdown period. This is possibly linked to being able to get back to socializing, training again with the opportunity to compete in a short-term period, resuming studies and leading a regular life after months of lockdown.

Furthermore, it is important to highlight those fluctuations in stress and modifications in exercise routines, especially when drastic, could result in sports injuries or illnesses (Brink et al., 2010; Wadey et al., 2013; Ivarsson et al., 2017). According to these statements, studies on the effect on the athletes’ emotional state of unforeseen events that can slow down a sports career, such as an injury (Olmedilla et al., 2014) or an involuntary lockout (Samuel et al., 2020), affirm that injuries negatively affect the mood, causing important changes and limiting sports competence and the derived performance (Montero et al., 2014).

The so-called Coronavirus experience (Samuel et al., 2020) is understood as a longitudinal, multifaceted, unpredictable, and uncontrolled change event where athletes may experience various emotional responses (positive, negative, and/or neutral). Therefore, it seems necessary to study the emotional state of athletes and related issues, even a period after the lockdown. Likewise, other studies argue that the pandemic and associated effects must be looked at in a complex and multidisciplinary way, not focusing exclusively on a biomedical approach and the responsibility of each country’s health ministries, as only one of the dimensions affecting athletes will be addressed (Burgos et al., 2020; Stambulova et al., 2020).

As discussed above, and now related to the emotional state, student-athletes should be particularly considered since their behavior is different compared to other athletes not combining academic and sporting life. Significant differences were reported in the negative emotional state, with student-athletes showing a worse baseline level during lockdown, suggesting a worse post-lockdown emotional state, but actually the results showed a significant drop afterward, correlating with the increase in positivity and energy. These results could mean that the student athletes took advantage of the lockdown period, to spend more time than usual on their studies instead of training, whereas, after return to training, they experienced a better emotional state, as they can continue their normal academic activity as well as training and competition, feeling more competent and controlling the situation. In fact, non-student-athletes showed an inverse behavior, being affected by the situation to a greater extent, maintaining their emotional state unchanged in the post-lockdown period.

As highlighted by other studies (Samuel et al., 2020; Stambulova et al., 2020), COVID-19 lockdown can place unexpected demands on athletes who combine an academic and sporting career and, therefore, have negative consequences on their emotional state. This can be explained in our sample by the stress levels reported, probably due to the new challenge of restarting all the activity again, taking into account their dual career status.

Student-athletes have reported higher values of negative emotional state during the lockdown, similarly to Toresdahl and Asif (2020) who stated that the cancelation of training and competitions could cause pain, stress, anxiety, frustration, and sadness in athletes, where students in countries with severe contagion, as in the case of Spain, may have increased vulnerability and support needs to cope with distance education and digital skills (Izzicupo et al., 2021).

The results on stress and mood of athletes in the post-lockdown period showed significant differences between genders and best sporting results. Women showed higher levels of depression and fatigue, as well as higher levels of stress, especially those sportswomen with better results. On the other hand, men had higher values for vigor. Once again, the present study shows that women experienced more negative consequences of lockdown, possibly affecting their mental health and, therefore, their personal life and sporting performance in the period of post-lockdown. Clarkson et al. (2020) suggest that the pressure on women’s sport during the pandemic is different compared to men and that the lack of financial security, as well as feelings of threat and uncertainty, was widespread for players at all levels of women’s football. Completing these findings, Bowes et al. (2020) affirm that the negative impact felt by female athletes is not a direct result from those alongside whom they work (coaches, psychologists, and larger support networks) but from the broader sport structures, historically rooted in gender inequality.

According to Rowe (2020), the virus did not cause sporting inequalities, but has exacerbated them across gender lines. In Spain, the study conducted by Pons et al. (2020) with young student-athletes also states that the group of female athletes suffered a greater impact, especially those in higher academic courses, with a lower socioeconomic status and worse training conditions during confinement. Di Fronso et al. (2020) suggest future research lines to be explored, since they have revealed a more negative impact of COVID-19 confinement on Italian female athletes. The sporting level (medalist athletes) seems to be another indicator to be considered in the profiles of athletes with more difficulties, experiencing higher stress levels and hostility than non-medalists.

Carrying out a cross-sectional study to find out the situation of athletes at different times of the health crisis could find limitations in the results obtained, because the responses were obtained in the post-confinement period. A longitudinal study could have been presented for the most appropriate in this case, but the uncertainty in the duration of the periods lived, as well as the difficulties that the athletes were facing, were the reason for carrying out the study once the confinement had passed and efforts were being made to regain normalcy, even with a large number of limitations.

In addition, other limitations to consider would be the inclusion of the questionnaires used in the present study in a single survey, which could mean that it was too long for the athletes to answer, as well as the inability to take the data in person due to mobility limitations that characterized the post-confinement stage in Spain.

This study shows how the health crisis caused by COVID-19 altered the sporting practice, life quality, and emotional state of Spanish elite athletes during the lockdown and in the subsequent post-lockdown period. Concerning the sporting practice, even with the advice of coaches during the lockdown, there were modifications due to the restrictions and the closure of sports facilities. After returning to the new situation, sporting activity did not return to normal levels immediately, since training was carried out in a progressive and scheduled manner by professionals, well aware that training had to be adapted to the circumstances. The health and performance perception were other altered factors in the athletes, especially in student-athletes and women groups. In addition, athletes with a higher competitive level suffering greater uncertainty due to the postponement of competition had an important decrease in both perceptions that should be considered. Furthermore, the health of athletes was also influenced by emotional problems, leading them to perform their training sessions with less attention and motivation compared to before the health crisis. However, the post-confinement period led to a decrease in the negative emotional state of the athletes, while at the same time increasing their positive emotional state and energy level in order to face their tasks. On the other hand, the stress level remained moderately high, due to the workload to be recovered, especially concerning the competitive and academic field for student-athletes.

We highlight the identification of profiles of different athletes to be considered, due to the consequences and difficulties caused by the health crisis on their lives. First, Spanish women athletes could be a group to be specifically approached that might indicate the prevalence of implicit gender inequalities in sport, becoming even more evident in a global crisis situation. Our findings could be related to less support received from organizations, as well as to other gender-related difficulties (less access to sports equipment, reduction or suspension of salaries, and so on) that should be further studied. Considering the physical and emotional health of female athletes, it appears to have been impaired, potentially affecting their lives and sports performance. During the last two Olympic Games, Spanish women have won more medals (52.4 and 64.7% in London and Rio, respectively). Therefore, it would be necessary to increase the research, in order to know the real impact of the pandemic on the elite sport of women in Spain, as well as the current and future consequences of the pandemic. Second, Spanish athletes who practiced team sports had more limitations when training both during and in post-lockdown periods, mainly due to the social distance, something that should clearly be considered. Third, student-athletes, who found the lockdown an opportunity to focus more time on their academic careers, leading to an increase in more sedentary activities, with possible implications for their sports performance on the one hand, but advances for their lives outside of sport as well.

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the San Antonio Catholic University (UCAM), Murcia, Spain. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

EC, CLdS, and MT participated in the design of the researchproject. EC, LMMA, CLdS, and MT participated in the surveydesign and adjustments. ASP, AL, and JAGR participated in thesubject recruiting and data collection process. LMMA and GSparticipated in the data analysis and results. EC, LMMA, GS, andADA participated in the preparation of the original manuscript. EC, LMMA, GS, YR, CLdS, and MT participated in the revised version of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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