INTRODUCTION: In 2020, 2021 and part of 2022, COVID 19 caused changes in the lives of a large number of people. The media has greatly influenced the behavior and anxiety of people in the world. This problem has especially resonated in sports, where training and a large number of competitions are prohibited. The aforementioned was expressed in wrestling. The aim of this work is to determine the differences in anxiety and behaviors caused by the COVID 19 pandemic between Croatian national wrestling representatives and national wrestling representatives from foreign national teams (Arm, Aus, CZ, Fin, Lit, Hun, Mol, Pol, Ned, Por, SAD, Esp, Srb, Swe, Sui, Ukr). METHODS: The sample of respondents consisted of 45 Croatian national team wrestlers and 71 foreign national team wrestlers. Each respondent filled out a survey questionnaire consisting of demographic data. After that general information, the questionnaire was followed by questions about recovering from COVID-19 and vaccination. It was further followed by the part of The COVID-19 Anxiety Scale, which refers to the self-assessment of anxiety caused by COVID-19, which consists of 5 questions. This was followed by The COVID-19 Safety Behavior Checklist (CSBC), which consists of 7 questions related to some behaviors related to COVID 19. Differences between the two groups were established using the Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were observed in seven variables. The difference was first noticed in variable V2 (Have you received the corona virus vaccine). Regarding the part of the survey for self-assessments of anxiety, a statistically significant difference was observed only in one variable: V7 (How much, in your opinion, is this virus more dangerous than the flu virus?). Furthermore, in the part of the survey related to behaviors related to COVID 19, statistically significant differences were observed in 5 variables: V8- I wash my hands more often and more thoroughly than usual, V9- I avoid places with a lot of people, V10- I follow news related to the spread of COVID more often. 19, V12- I use hand sanitizers, V13- I avoid shaking hands with other people.
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