The elite young athlete Sport is by its nature competitive and even during youth it is performed at different levels with elite young athletes at the top of the performance pyramid. A coordinated series of comprehensive research based reviews on factors underlying the performance of children and adolescents involved in competitive sport is presented in this volume. Leading exercise and sport scientists provide the latest information on the physiology of young elite athletes the essential role of nutrition and the effects of endurance high intensity and high resistance training and overtraining as well as on the importance of laboratory and field based monitoring of young athletes’ performances. Further thermoregulation and environmental factors that might affect performance are re viewed. Finally strategies for preventing sudden cardiac death and the diagnosis and management of common sport injuries in young athletes are discussed. The book provides up to date evidence based information for sports scientists coaches physiotherapists pediatric sports medicine specialists and other professionals involved in supporting elite young athletes