Digital Fitness Monitoring as a Pathway to Olympic Talent: The i4EUFITMOS Project Approach

Abstract (English)

As nations look ahead to Olympic excellence by 2036, the foundation for athletic achievement must be laid in schools, where physical literacy, fitness, and early talent indicators can be systematically developed. The i4EUFITMOS project (Intelligent Digital Services for Supporting the European Fitness Monitoring System), co-funded by Erasmus+ Sport 2024 (Project No. 101185245) introduces a novel framework for building strong, inclusive, and data-driven pathways from school-based physical activity to high-performance sport. The project supports the digital transformation of the EUFITMOS fitness monitoring framework by equipping educators, school administrators, and policymakers with intelligent digital tools that assess, track, and visualize student fitness levels. These tools are designed to work in real-time and to enable individualized feedback, national benchmarking, and evidence-based educational interventions. By embedding digital fitness assessment into regular PE curricula, i4EUFITMOS enables early identification of physical potential, promotes health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA), and provides data to inform long-term athlete development (LTAD) models. Standardized metrics, when used across countries, allow for comparable baselines, better understanding of youth trends, and strategic planning for Olympic pipelines. This presentation will share early results from implementation efforts in Montenegro and other partner countries, where digital prototypes and teacher training modules have been co-developed and pilot-tested. The tools are mobile-friendly, easy to use, and built to respect privacy while enabling data aggregation at school, local, and national levels. Aligned with the Olympic values of excellence, inclusion, and respect, i4EUFITMOS prioritizes accessibility for all students, including girls, marginalized youth, and students with lower fitness levels. The project also strengthens teacher capacity to interpret fitness data pedagogically, not just diagnostically, and supports a culture where performance and participation are not mutually exclusive. The long-term vision is to contribute to sustainable, intelligent talent identification systems, which do not rely solely on elite scouting, but begin at grassroots levels using ethically gathered, developmentally appropriate data. In this way, i4EUFITMOS bridges health promotion, educational innovation, and high-performance sport development. This contribution to the panel will reflect on how data infrastructures created through school-based fitness monitoring can serve dual purposes: supporting public health goals and feeding into national Olympic development strategies. It will also address digital equity, teacher readiness, and policy recommendations for countries looking to build “from the playground to the podium” in the next Olympic cycle.