Issue |
Mov Sport Sci/Sci Mot
Number 104, 2019
Masters athletes: Age is just a number / Les athlètes masters : l’âge n’est qu’un nombre
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 21 - 27 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/sm/2019030 | |
Published online | 18 October 2019 |
Article
Effect of age on the sex difference in Ironman triathlon performance
Effet de l’âge sur les différences des performances en triathlon distance Ironman entre les sexes
1
Department of movement, Human and health sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”,
00135
Rome, Italy
2
CIPER, Faculdade de motricidade humana, University of Lisbon, Estrada da Costa, Cruz Quebrada-Dafundo,
1499-002
Lisbon, Portugal
3
CAPS UMR1093, Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Inserm), Faculté des sciences du sport, UFR STAPS, Université de Bourgogne-Franche Comté,
Dijon, France
* Corresponding author: vvleck@fmh.ulisboa.pt
Received:
3
April
2019
Accepted:
2
September
2019
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of age on the sex differences in (3.8 km) swim, (180 km) cycle, (42 km) run, and overall performance time at the 2018 Ironman triathlon World Championship. Sex differences in performance times were analysed for the top 10 male and female amateur triathletes of each 5 years age group between 18–24 years and 70–74 years. Independent of age, the averaged sex difference in swimming, cycling, running, and overall performance time was 14.0 ± 3.3%, 15.6 ± 3.1%, 15.3 ± 6.8% and 15.1 ± 3.6%, respectively. There was no significant change with age in the sex difference in performance for swimming. For both cycling and running, the sex difference in performance of the age groups whose athletes were older than 60 years were significantly greater than those of younger age groups. Such results suggest that, in Ironman triathletes, the increase in the sex difference in performance with advancing age is discipline dependent. Further examination of the (physiological and training load related) factors that are associated with the age-related decline in Ironman triathlon performance is required to understand why the sex difference in cycling and running performance increases with age.
Résumé
Cette étude examine l’effet de l’âge sur les différences de performance entre les sexes pour la natation (3,8 km), le cyclisme (180 km), la course à pied (42 km) lors du Championnat du Monde de triathlon Ironman en 2018. Les différences de performances ont été analysées pour le top 10 hommes et femmes de chaque groupe d’âges de 5 ans compris entre 18–24 ans et 70–74 ans. Indépendamment de l’âge, l’écart-moyen entre les sexes était respectivement 14,0 ± 3,3 %, 15,6 ± 3,1 %, 15,3 ± 6,8 % et 15,1 ± 3,6 %, pour la natation, le cyclisme, la course à pied et l’épreuve totale. L’âge n’influençait pas la différence entre les sexes en natation. En cyclisme et en course à pied, la différence de performance entre les sexes au-delà de 60 ans était plus grande que pour les groupes d’âges plus jeunes. Cette étude suggère que l’augmentation avec l’âge de la différence de performance entre les sexes en triathlon Ironman dépend de la discipline. Des études futures, examinant les facteurs physiologiques et non-physiologiques associés au déclin des performances en triathlon avec l’âge, sont nécessaires pour comprendre pourquoi l’écart entre les sexes augmente avec l’âge.
Key words: master athletes / gender difference / ultra-endurance / cycling / running
Mots clés : athlètes masters / genre / ultra-endurance / cyclisme / course à pied
© ACAPS, 2019
Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.
Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.
Initial download of the metrics may take a while.