Sports laboratory

Modern high-performance sport involves teamwork between athletes, coaches, medical staff, and other specialists. The Laboratory of High-Performance Sport at Witte Moscow University conducts research in the field of sports science and sports medicine and implements projects aimed at the development of Russian sport. In their work, laboratory specialists rely on a rational approach, objective data, and international investigations. The main goal of the laboratory is to bring Russian sports science and sports medicine to the world level.

Laboratory researchers are involved in the development of unique areas for Russia: studying the relative age effect in sport, the influence of high-performance sport on the human body and the identification of talent. As part of these projects, active scientific work is carried out, which results in the publication of scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks.

Laboratory employees are directly involved in two projects together with the RFS Medical Committee:
- A series of educational seminars across the country entitled "Doctors and Coaches: Into the Future Together".
- A series of educational posters "Getting Better. Together".

As part of these projects, more than 20 seminars in more than 15 cities (Moscow, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, Grozny, Voronezh, Makhachkala, Podolsk, Omsk, Ulyanovsk, Orenburg, etc.) have been held and educational posters devoted to the most relevant issues in sports medicine have been produced during 2019-2020.

In 2019, the laboratory researchers published eight scientific papers, including six in Q1-level foreign and two Russian scientific journals. In addition, under the editorship of E. N. Bezuglov (Chief Researcher of the Laboratory of High-Performance Sports) and E. E. Achkasov (Head of Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation Department of I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University) a scientific textbook on the anti-doping provision of high-performance sport was published. Scientific cooperation with Professor Nicola Mafulli (Italy) was established.

So far in 2020, the employees of the High-Performance Sports Laboratory have already published four research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals (three of them in Q1-level foreign ones). In addition, two research papers have already been accepted for publication, and other fifteen articles are under consideration in various foreign and Russian journals. 

In July 2020, the laboratory staff, together with partners from the Russian Football Union, developed a testing program for young football players to identify football talents. Regular testing started in July 2020.

In August 2020, the project "Studying the effects of high-performance sport on the human hormonal profile" was launched in collaboration with Professor Anthony Hackney (USA).

In the autumn of 2020, the research manual "Sensitive periods in the development of children. Determining Sports Talent".

Work is currently underway on the monographs "Stress injuries" and a scientific manual "Football medicine".

The laboratory is based at S.Y. Witte Moscow University and Smart Recovery sports medicine centre.