The Technique of Elite Athletes Specialized in 50 Km Race Walk

Abstract

Purpose: to reveal trends of changing the technique of highly skilled 50 km race walkers along with the increase of sports results based on biomechanical characteristics analysis. Material and methods. Technique biomechanical analysis data of the best world and Ukrainian athletes, obtained in the course of studies at 2015–2018 national race walk championships in 50 km and 35 km distances are presented. Biomechanical characteristics of 22 highly skilled athletes (14 males and 8 females) specialized in 50 km race walk (total number of sports results 30) have been determined and analyzed. Results. Improvement of sports result in the men’s 50 km race walk to the world best level occurs mainly at the expense of stride length increase 1.10 m (p < 0.05). Result improvement to the world level from 4:10:00 (S = 0:07:50) to 3:56:27 (S = 0:02:08) mainly occurs at the expense of stride frequency increase to 3.32 stride·s–1 (S = 0.10) at statistically significant differences with indices of the national level athletes (p < 0.01). It has been revealed that in females of the high national level specialized in 50 km race walk (results close to 4:31:37), the indices of stride length and frequency constitute 0.95 m (S = 0.02) and 3.22 stride·s–1 (S = 0.12), respectively. Conclusions. Comparative analysis of race walk technique kinematic characteristics of athletes of different skill levels specialized in 50 km race walk has been conducted. Prospects and directions for improving sports results of potential national team members have been revealed on the basis of comparison with the indices of national team members and elite athletes. A sharp improvement of sports results of female athletes in 50 km race walk during the last few years is noteworthy. It was due to this discipline inclusion in the program of Track and Field World Championships.