Book excerpt: This new volume in the Encyclopaedia of Sports Medicine series, published under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee, provides a state-of-the- art account of the epidemiology of injury across a broad spectrum of Olympic sports. The book uses the public health model in describing the scope of the injury problem, the associated risk factors, and in evaluating the current research on injury prevention strategies described in the literature. Epidemiology of Injury in Olympic Sports comprehensively covers what is known about the distribution and determinants of injury and injury rates in each sport. The editors and contributors have taken an evidence-based approach and adopted a uniform methodology to assess the data available. Each chapter is illustrated with tables which make it easy to examine injury factors between studies within a sport and between sports. With contributions from internationally renowned experts, this is an invaluable reference book for medical doctors, physical therapists and athletic trainers who serve athletes and sports teams, and for sports medicine scientists and healthcare professionals who are interested in the epidemiological study of injury in sports.