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Anecdotally many athletes report worse sleep in the nights prior to important competitions. Despite sleep being acknowledged as an important factor for optimal athletic performance and overall health, little is understood about athlete sleep around competition. The aims of this study were to identify sleep complaints of athletes prior to competitions and determine whether complaints were confined to competition periods.

Cross-sectional study.

A sample of 283 elite Australian athletes (129 male, 157 female, age 24 ± 5 y) completed two questionnaires; Competitive Sport and Sleep questionnaire and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index.

64.0% of athletes indicated worse sleep on at least one occasion in the nights prior to an important competition over the past 12 months. The main sleep problem specified by athletes was problems falling asleep (82.1%) with the main reasons responsible …