REF-1058 · Bergeron et al., 2015 · British Journal of Sports Medicine, · Paper · PubMed

International Olympic Committee consensus statement on youth athletic development

The IOC critically evaluated the science and practice of youth athlete development and set out guiding principles for developing healthy, resilient and capable youth athletes, with opportunities for all levels of participation and success; the published abstract states the aim and scope only, not the recommendations

Astrong evidenceMeasured on non-to highly trained athletesWritten before October 2026, being re-checked

An IOC consensus statement by an international expert panel. Abstract only was read. It accepts that sport brings young people health, fitness and other benefits, notes how hard it is for everyone involved — youth athletes most of all — to keep sport inclusive, sustainable and enjoyable while allowing success at every level of ability, and offers recommendations aimed at a more unified, evidence-informed way of developing young athletes.

Key Findings

Youth sport brings well-recognised benefits for health, fitness and more (abstract).
Everyone involved, and young athletes above all, faces considerable difficulty in keeping participation inclusive, sustainable and enjoyable, with success possible at every level of individual athletic achievement (abstract).
After a critical review of current science and practice in youth athlete development, the IOC set out recommendations for raising healthy, resilient and capable young athletes, while keeping opportunities open for every level of participation and success (abstract).
The IOC calls on every governing body, in youth sport and beyond, to adopt and apply these guiding principles (abstract).
The recommendations themselves are not in the abstract; none are reproduced here.

Practical Application

Is there an official line on how children and teenagers should be developed as athletes? Yes: the IOC consensus (Bergeron 2015, A, all youth sport) sets the goal as healthy, resilient and capable young athletes, with participation kept inclusive, sustainable and enjoyable at every level — not only for those on a talent pathway. For a parent of a young cyclist, this is the top-level reason the base puts long-term health and enjoyment ahead of short-term results.
Inference, not tested here: because the consensus addresses all levels of participation, the assistant should not treat a recreational teenage rider as a junior racer in waiting; the default is variety and enjoyment (SYNTH-81).
Not from this paper; the base's own practice: the concrete numbers the assistant uses for young athletes come from other entries — hours and specialisation from REF-602, resistance training from REF-600 / REF-601 / REF-1060, maturation from REF-603 / REF-1065, growth-spurt injury from REF-1064.

Limitations

Consensus statement: expert evaluation, not an experiment; the abstract describes no systematic search or evidence grading.
The abstract contains no recommendations, numbers, age bands or sport-specific content; every specific use of this paper would need the full text, which was not read.
General youth sport; nothing in the abstract is specific to cycling or endurance sport.
How this entry was checked and changed
Why this level

major consensus / position statement (rubric A); the abstract carries the aim and scope only, so this entry can cite it for the IOC's stance, not for any specific recommendation or number