Performance Development in Adolescent Track and Field Athletes According to Age, Sex and Sport Discipline

Abstract

IntroductionSex-specific differences that arise during puberty have a pronounced effect on the training process. However, the consequences this should have for goal-setting, planning and implementation of training for boys and girls of different ages remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to quantify performance developments in athletic running and jumping disciplines in the age range 11-18 and identify progression differences as a function of age, discipline and sex.MethodsThe 100 all-time best Norwegian male and female 60-m, 800-m, long jump and high jump athletes in each age category from 11 to 18 years were analysed using mixed models with random intercept according to athlete.ResultsMale and female athletes perform almost equally in running and jumping events up to the age of 12. Beyond this age, males outperform females. Relative annual performance development in females gradually decreases throughout the analyzed age period. In males, annual relative performance development accelerates up to the age of 13 (for running events) or 14 (for jumping events) and then gradually declines when approaching 18 years of age. The relative improvement from age 11 to 18 was twice as high in jumping events compared to running events. For all of the analyzed disciplines, overall improvement rates were >50% higher for males than for females. The performance sex difference evolves from < 5% to 10-18% in all the analyzed disciplines from age 11 to 18 yr.ConclusionTo the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to present absolute and relative annual performance developments in running and jumping events for competitive athletes from early to late adolescence. These results allow coaches and athletes to set realistic goals and prescribe conditioning programs that take into account sex-specific differences in the rate of performance development at different stages of maturation.

Sex differences in athletic performance emerge coinciding with the onset of male puberty

“…The present study shows that the gender divergence in performance for swimming and for running and jumping track and field events is very closely aligned to the timing of the onset of male puberty, which typically has onset at around 12 years of age . These findings are consistent with reports on the timing of the gender differences in performance observed among Norwegian athletes in two running and two jumping events and for track and field skills among Polish athletes . This study extends the findings to swimming and a wider range of running and jumping track and field events.…”

“…After completion of male puberty, circulating testosterone levels in men are consistently 10‐15 times higher than in children or women at any age . The age at which sex differences emerge is reported as around the age of 12 from a study of individual Norwegian athletes in two running and two jumping events and at 13‐14 years in four track and field skills in Polish athletes; however, the relationship to male puberty and circulating testosterone is not clear. This study investigates the age of the gender divergence in performance in elite swimming and a wider range of elite athletic events as well as a community‐based study of grip strength among nonathletes to deduce the onset and progression of the gender divergence in performance of athletes and relates this to the timing and tempo of male puberty and the rise in circulating testosterone into adult male levels.…”

Performance trends in age‐group runners from 100 m to marathon—The World Championships from 1975 to 2015

“…However, beyond this age, male athletes outperform female athletes. 25 It is important to note that the age of peak performance has changed in recent decades in female but not in male athletes. In the last 20-30 years, ages at which peak athletic performance is observed have increased in female but not in male athletes.…”

Coaching Youth Middle Distance Runners

“…That said, as athletes reach adolescence and males develop more rapidly, the performance gap between genders increases (Malina et al, 2010). In their study on the performance developments of track and field athletes, Tønnessen, Svendsen, Olsen, Guttormsen, and Haugen (2015) found that "the 800 m performance sex difference evolves from 4.8% at the age of 11 to 15.7% at the age of 18" (p. 5). The authors recommend that coaches consider these differences when planning performance goals for athletes.…”