Parents at the sport competition: How they react, feel and cope with the event

<jats:p>Background and Study Aim. Researchers rarely focus on documenting parental experiences at sport tournaments. Therefore, our purpose was to document parent cardiovascular, metabolic and emotional responses to watching their child compete while also paying attention to their thoughts before and after the competition, levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and coping strategies.&#x0D;<br>Materials and methods. Parents, a mother and a father of same female adolescent, wore a device made by Firstbeat Technologies which continuously monitored their heart rate from Thursday evening to Monday evening. The competition was on Saturday, and it was the taekwondo Croatian National Championships for cadets. Their child had two fights: she won the first one and lost the second one. Parents completed a number of questionnaires and two open-ended questions regarding their expectations and overall experience.&#x0D;<br>Results. Before the contest, dad expected his daughter would fight a