Female athletes who participate in jumping and pivoting sports are 2 to 10 times more likely to sustain a knee ligament injury, such as an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, than male athletes participating in the same sports. The substantial increase in the number of women and girls participating in athletics, coupled with the 2- to 10-fold higher injury rate, widened the gender gap in the number of serious knee ligament injuries.
Most ACL injuries—whether in male or female athletes—occur by noncontact mechanisms, often during landing from a jump or making a lateral pivot while running. Osteoarthritis of the knee will develop in 50 percent to 100 percent of injured female athletes within one to two decades after injury.