Mental strength of triathlon athletes, exercise examination of the relationship of addiction and body mass index

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between mental toughness, exercise addiction and body mass index in triathlon athletes. In the study, a personal information form including sports history and other demographic information, the "sport mental toughness questionnaire-smtq-14" consisting of 14 items to determine the level of mental toughness in the sport environment, which was developed by Sheard et al. (2009) specifically for all athletes, and the Exercise Addiction Scale-21 (EIS-21) consisting of 21 items to determine the exercise addiction status of athletes were used. A total of 78 athletes, 16 women and 61 men, participated in the study. It was determined that 12.8% of the athletes within the scope of the study were exercise addicts and 53.08% of them showed signs of exercise addiction although they were not addicted. When the relationship between the mental endurance and exercise addiction subdimensions of the athletes was examined; it was determined that there was a positive relationship between the tolerance sub-dimension (r=.238 and p=.036), time (r=.271 and p=.017). There was a negative relationship between the mental endurance levels of the athletes and the effects of exercise interruption (r=.084 and p=,466), loss of control (r=.144 and p=,207), reduction of other activities (r=.165 and p=,149), exercise addiction levels (r=.228 and p=,045).It was seen that the continuity levels of male triathlon athletes were higher than those of females. It was found that the tolerance levels of athletes aged between 31-40 years were higher than those of athletes aged between 41-50 years. Participants aged between 21-30 years had higher tolerance and exercise addiction levels compared to participants aged 31-40 years and above. It was determined that the continuity levels of athletes who enjoyed running were higher than those of athletes who enjoyed swimming. It was found that the loss of control levels of athletes who did not have a sports injury were higher than those who had a sports injury. It was observed that the continuity levels of athletes who had Covid-19 were higher than those who did not have Covid-19. Keywords: Triathlon, Exercise Addiction, Mental Endurance, Body Mass Index