Tokyo, Japan: The results of three years of intensive research on behalf of Asia’s athletes were presented by the OCA Athletes’ Committee at the Asian Athletes Forum 2011 in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon. Under the initiative of OCA Athletes’ Committee Chair Yuko Arakida, committee members and volunteers conducted exhaustive surveys at the 2008 Asian Beach Games in Bali, the 2009 Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam, the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou and the 2011 Asian Winter Games in Kazakhstan.

The results have been collated as the survey has progressed, and the final figures from over 3,500 athletes were revealed at the Forum, which has been organised by the Japanese Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission and OCA Athletes’ Committee.

OCA Athletes’ Committee member Dr Mansour Al Tauqi addressed a full house of around 250 at the Pamir International Convention Centre on Tuesday afternoon, and explained the demographics of the survey before announcing the findings.

Over 65 per cent of the participants were male, emphasising the fact that females were relatively under-represented in Asian multi-sport sports events. NOCs needed to do more to increase the number of female athletes, he concluded.

He also reported that over 61 per cent of the participants lived in the city as opposed to villages or small towns, highlighting the need for sports authorities to promote sport in rural areas and not just in the major population densities.

Over 56 per cent of the athletes in the survey were aged between 19-25, and over 20 per cent were married, giving them additional responsibilities.

Over 43 per cent were students at the time of the survey, as opposed to almost 42 per cent in employment, and over 53 per cent of the total had a university education.

When it came to sports services satisfaction, athletes felt that they did not have enough knowledge of nutrition, medical care, rehabilitation and sports psychology, all matters that needed addressing, said Dr Mansour. The survey also revealed that anti-doping policy needed to be simplified.

Regarding financial support, 47.2 per cent received their money from the government and only 12.2 per cent from the private sector. As for a career on retirement as a competitive athlete, 1,361 of the 3,642 athletes desired to remain in sport. Some 44 per cent already had skills in marketing, by the far the biggest sector.

“On behalf of the OCA Athletes’ Committee I would like to thank all NOCs who participated in the survey, OCA staff, the OCA Athletes’ Committee Chairperson and members, and all volunteers who supported the project,” said Dr Mansour.