Aim: The aim of the study was to analyse the injuries and illnesses in Swedish Para athletes during four Paralympic Games (PG), 2012-2018. The research questions (RQ) were: 1) what was the injury incident rate (IR), and which anatomical areas were affected by injuries? 2) what was the illness IR and which physiological systems were affected by illnesses? 3) did the injury and illness IR differ between the Swedish delegation and the reference group (RG), where most athletes participating in the four PGs were included? 4) were there any associations between injury and illness IR and subgroups of athletes? Method: A retrospective analysis of data from a large ongoing prospective study of injuries and illnesses initiated by the International Paralympic Committee in 2012. Data from 157 Swedish Paralympic athletes were analysed and compared to previous results from the RG.  For RQ1, 2 and 3, injuries and illnesses were reported as IR, calculated per 1000 athlete days, in the Swedish delegations (RQ1-3) and compared to the RG (RQ3). For RQ4, a univariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to find possible associations between risk of injury and illness, and subgroups. Results: The injury IR in Swedish athletes varied between the four PGs, from 2.5 to 59.5 per 1000 athlete days. Most injuries occurred in the upper limb. There was a particularly high occurrence of injuries in Para ice hockey players. The illness IR varied from 3.6 per 1000 athlete days in London (2012), to 39.5 in Sochi (2014). The respiratory tract was most affected by illness, in both Swedish athletes and the RG. Most injuries and illnesses in the Swedish delegation were acute onset, but only a minority led to days lost from training and competition. The Swedish delegation had a lower injury IR per 1000 athlete days compared to the RG in all PGs, except for Pyeongchang (2018), where they had an almost three times higher IR. The illness IR for the Swedish delegation was, compared to the RG, lower in London (2012), the same in Rio (2016) and higher in both Sochi (2014) and Pyeongchang (2018). Participation in the Winter Games was associated with a higher risk for both injury and illness compared to the Summer Games. There was also an increased risk of injury for athletes in a contact sport compared to a non-contact sport. Conclusions: This thesis indicates that there is a need to continue monitoring Para athletes, both during and between competitions, to get more knowledge about injury and illness incidence patterns, as well as preventable risk factors. The latter would be especially important for Para ice hockey. It is yet to see if the awareness of the importance of hygiene measures and physical distancing to reduce spreading of infections, brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, will affect the occurrence of respiratory tract infections during large sporting events.

The thesis focuses on the research event, the World Para Ice Hockey Championships, which took place in 2019 in Ostrava, and on its media representation in online news media (Aktuálně.cz, iDnes.cz, Deník.cz and iSport.cz), in live broadcasts of ČT sport and in the TV reportage Machři from the 168 hodin TV programme. The basic theoretical concept of the thesis is the media representation of reality and the semiotic perception of the construction of reality on the general level and on the level of sport discourse and the discourse of sport of athlethes with disabilities. The thesis also briefly discusses the context of sport of athlethes with disabilities and para ice hockey in the Czech Republic. The qualitative research method is a semiotic analysis based primarily on the semiotics of Roland Barthes. The main research question asks what was the media image of the Czech para ice hockey team during the aforementioned event, and is answered through subsidiary research questions that focus on the media image of spectator attendance, on narrativisation and narratives, that the media told in relation to the championship, on modern myths, on the semiotic construction of stereotypes, their reinforcement, breaking down or creation, and on the difference in these media constructions between written and...

anglicky Objectives: This thesis aims to investigate whether we can predict the general and sport- specific quality of life of athletes with physical disabilities based on selected positive psychological constructs (resilience, hardiness and grit). Method: Forty players of para ice-hockey and wheelchair rugby (of which only two were women) underwent this study. The data were obtained by a questionnaire, compiled by Professor Martin from Wayne State University, which contains six parts: general information, life satisfaction, grit, resilience, sports engagement and hardiness. The "translation and reverse translation" method was used to translate the questionnaire. We used the statistical program IBM SPSS 2200 to analyze the obtained data. Results: Life satisfaction can be best predicted on the basis of hardiness (R = 0.686), but also resilience (R = 0.496) and grit (R = 0.340). We can predict sports engagement only based on resilience (R = 0.374). We recommend searching for other possible positive constructs that could better predict sports engagement. Key words: quality of life, sport engagement, life satisfaction, resilience, hardiness, grit, para ice hockey, wheelchair rugby