Abstract
purpose of this study was (i) to determine the age of peak triathlon performance for world class athletes competing in Olympic, Half-Ironman and Ironman distance races and (ii) to investigate a potential change in the age of the annual fastestathletesacrossyears.Dataofagesandracetimesofall finishers in the international top races over the three distances between 2003 and 2013 were collected and the annual top ten women and men were analysed using linear, non-linear and hierarchical multivariate regression analyses. The age of peak male performance was 27.1 ± 4.9 years in the Olympic, 28.0 ± 3.8 years in the Half-Ironman and 35.1 ±3.6 years in the Ironman distance and the age of peak male performance was higher in the Ironman compared to the Olympic (p< 0.05) and the Half-Ironman distance (p<0.05) triathlon. The age of peak female performance was 26.6 ± 4.4 years in the Olympic, 31.6 ± 3.4 years in the Half-Ironman and 34.4 ± 4.4 years in the Ironman distance and the age of peak female performance was lower in the Olympic compared to the Half-Ironman (p< 0.05) and Ironman distance (p< 0.05) triathlon. The age of the annual top ten women and men remained unchanged over the last decade in the Half-Ironman and the Ironman distance. In the Olympic distance, however, the age of the annual top ten men decreased slightly. To summarize, the age of peak triathlon performance was higher in the longer triathlon race distances (i.e.Ironman) and the age of the annual top triathletes remained mainly stable over the last decade. With these findings top athletes competing at world class level can plan their career more precisely as they are able to determine the right time in life to switch from the shorter (i.e.Olympic distance) to the longer triathlon race distances (i.e.Half-Ironman and Ironman) in order to continuouslycompete in triathlon races at world class level. Keywords:Age trends; Endurance; Swimming; Cycling; Running Background
these findings top athletes competing at world class level can plan their career more precisely as they are able to determine the right time in life to switch from the shorter (i.e.Olympic distance) to the longer triathlon race distances (i.e.Half-Ironman and Ironman) in order to continuouslycompete in triathlon races at world class level. Keywords:Age trends; Endurance; Swimming; Cycling; Running Background Triathlon is a unique endurance sport including the three disciplines swimming, cycling and running in this order. Triathlon races are held over different distances such as the Olympic or short distance triathlon (i.e.1.5 km swim- ming, 40 km cycling and 10 km running), the Half- Ironman or Ironman 70.3 distance (i.e.1.9 km swimming, 90 km cycling and 21.1 km running) and the Ironman dis- tance (i.e.3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling and 42.2 km running) (Bentley et al. 2002). In addition to the Ironman triathlon distance, ultra-endurance triathlons of longer distances do exist, such as the Triple Iron ultra-triathlon (i.e.11.4 km swimming, 540 km cycling and 126.6 km running) (Knechtle et al. 2008), and the Deca Iron ultra- triathlon (i.e.38 km swimming, 1,800 km cycling and 420 km running) (Herbst et al. 2011). Over the last decade, several studies showed an age- related decline in endurance performance (Bernard et al. 2010; Knechtle et al. 2012c; Ransdell et al. 2009. Tanaka and Seals 2008). These studies demonstrated that endur- ance performance appeared to be maintained until the age of ~35-40 years, with a modest decrease until the age of ~50 years, followed by a progressive decrease in per- formance thereafter (Reaburn and Dascombe 2008; Sultana et al. 2008; Tanaka and Seals 2008). After the age of ~70 years, the greatest declines in endurance performance occur (Lepers et al. 2013a). Triathlon represents an interesting model to analyse the age-related decline of endurance per- formances in both recreational and elite athletes, as the de- cline in performance can be analysed in the same individual * Correspondence:beat.knechtle@hispeed.ch 2 Gesundheitszentrum St. Gallen, Vadianstrasse 26, 9001, St. Gallen, Switzerland Full list of author information is available at the end of the article a SpringerOpen Journal ©
an interesting model to analyse the age-related decline of endurance per- formances in both recreational and elite athletes, as the de- cline in performance can be analysed in the same individual * Correspondence:beat.knechtle@hispeed.ch 2 Gesundheitszentrum St. Gallen, Vadianstrasse 26, 9001, St. Gallen, Switzerland Full list of author information is available at the end of the article a SpringerOpen Journal © 2014 Knechtle et al.; licensee Springer. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. Knechtleet al. SpringerPlus2014,3:538 http://www.springerplus.com/content/3/1/538
for the three disciplines separately (Bernard et al. 2010; Lepers and Maffiuletti 2011). Considering Olympic and Ironman distance triathlon, overall race times decreased progressively with advan- cing age, but there was a smaller age-related decline in the cycling split performance than in the running and the swimming split performances (Lepers et al. 2010). This means that the age-related decline in triathlon per- formance differs between the locomotion modes (Bentley et al. 2002; Knechtle et al. 2012a). Physiological and mech- anical specificities of cycling compared to running and swimming, such as the change from a non-weight to a weight-bearing activity and the shift from a stretch- shortening activity with eccentric contractions in running to a concentric type of muscle action in cycling (Bijker et al. 2002), and different training stimulus may explain the lower age-related performance decline in cycling com- pared to running and swimming (Bentley et al. 2002; Lepers et al. 2010). The decline in triathlon performance with increasing age has been investigated for split times in the Olympic distance (Bentley et al. 2002), the Half-Ironman distance (Knechtle et al. 2012b) and the Ironman distance (Lepers et al. 2013b; Stiefel et al. 2012) triathlon. Interestingly, the age-related performance decline started at different ages in the three different race distances. In the Olympic distance, the decline in performance for split times started at the age of ~40 years for swimming, at ~50 years for running and at ~55 years for cycling (Lepers et al. 2010). In the Half-Ironman distance, the decline started at the age of ~40 years for both swimming and cycling, whereas the decline in running performance started at the age of ~45 years (Knechtle et al. 2012b). In the Ironman distance, the performance started to de- crease at the age of ~45 years for swimming and run- ning, and at the age of ~50 years for cycling (Lepers et al. 2010). The reason for the earlier decline in running performance compared to cycling performance might be due to the differences in locomotion between cycling and running which are the change from a non-weight- bearing to a weight-bearing activity
the age of ~45 years for swimming and run- ning, and at the age of ~50 years for cycling (Lepers et al. 2010). The reason for the earlier decline in running performance compared to cycling performance might be due to the differences in locomotion between cycling and running which are the change from a non-weight- bearing to a weight-bearing activity and the shift from a stretch-shortening activity with eccentric contractions in running to a concentric type of muscle action in cycling (Bijker et al. 2002). Since different rates of decline dur- ing fatiguing contractions involving eccentric compared to concentric activations occur, this might explain the different rate of decline in cycling compared to running (Heiden and Burnett 2003). The age-related decline of endurance performance over the different distances in triathlon has been well ex- amined and differs between the different race distances (Bentley et al. 2002; Knechtle et al. 2012b; Lepers et al. 2010; 2013b; Stiefel et al. 2012). However, the exact age of peak triathlon performance has not been investigated yet for all triathlon distances. Up to now, no study has investigated at which age the athletes achieve their peak triathlon performance in the Olympic distance. Women competing in a Half-Ironman such as the‘Ironman 70.3 Switzerland’race, a qualifier for the Ironman World Championship 70.3, achieved their peak triathlon per- formance between the age of ~25 and ~39 years and men between ~18 and ~39 years (Knechtle et al. 2012b). The fastest race times in‘Ironman Hawaii’were achieved by women in age groups 25–29 and 30–34 years, and men in age groups 30–34 and 35–39 years (Lepers and Maffiuletti 2011). It has been reported that the age of peak triathlon performance in Ironman triathlon was at ~33-34 years for both women and men (Gallmann et al. 2014; Rüst et al. 2012a; Stiefel et al. 2013a). For longer distances than the Ironman distance, Knechtle et al. (2012a) showed that the mean age of male winning athletes in a Triple Iron ultra-triathlon was ~36 years and the mean age of male winning athletes in a Deca Iron ultra-triathlon was ~38 years. Several studies
and men (Gallmann et al. 2014; Rüst et al. 2012a; Stiefel et al. 2013a). For longer distances than the Ironman distance, Knechtle et al. (2012a) showed that the mean age of male winning athletes in a Triple Iron ultra-triathlon was ~36 years and the mean age of male winning athletes in a Deca Iron ultra-triathlon was ~38 years. Several studies investigating participation trends of master athletes showed an increase in participation and an improvement of triathlon performance of master ath- letes in recent years, while the performances of athletes younger than 40 years remained quite stable (Etter et al. 2013; Gallmann et al. 2014; Lepers et al. 2013b; Stiefel et al. 2012). During the 1986–2010 period in‘Ironman Hawaii’as the official Ironman World Championship, men older than 44 years and women older than 40 years significantly improved their performance in both the split disciplines and in overall race times (Lepers et al. 2013b). The age of the annual ten fastest women and men in‘Ironman Hawaii’increased over the last three decades and their performance improved while younger athletes seemed to have reached their limits in Ironman triathlon performance (Gallmann et al. 2014; Lepers et al. 2013b). The age of peak triathlon performance was higher in athletes competing in the Ironman distance (Stiefel et al. 2013a) compared to the Half-Ironman distance triathlon (Knechtle et al. 2012b), and the decline of performance started earlier in the Olympic distance compared to the longer distances (Etter et al. 2013, Lepers et al. 2010). Considering longer distances, the age of peak triathlon performance was higher in athletes competing in the Triple Iron and the Deca Iron ultra-triathlon than for shorter triathlon distances, leading to the assumption that the age of peak triathlon performance would be higher in longer triathlon races (i.e.Half-Ironman and Ironman distance) compared to shorter races (i.e.Olympic distance) (Knechtle et al. 2012a). The age of peak triathlon performance in Olympic distance triathlon has not previ- ously been investigated and up to now, only age-group Half-Ironman performances have been analyzed. Gener- ally, there are fewer studies investigating the age of peak Knechtleet al. SpringerPlus2014,3:538 Page 2
longer triathlon races (i.e.Half-Ironman and Ironman distance) compared to shorter races (i.e.Olympic distance) (Knechtle et al. 2012a). The age of peak triathlon performance in Olympic distance triathlon has not previ- ously been investigated and up to now, only age-group Half-Ironman performances have been analyzed. Gener- ally, there are fewer studies investigating the age of peak Knechtleet al. SpringerPlus2014,3:538 Page 2 of 16 http://www.springerplus.com/content/3/1/538
triathlon performance in longer triathlon races (Knechtle et al. 2012b; Rüst et al. 2012a; Stiefel et al. 2013a) than studies investigating the age-related decline in triathlon performance (Bernard et al. 2010; Etter et al. 2013; Lepers et al. 2010; 2013a; b; Stiefel et al. 2012). For athletes and their coaches, the age of peak triathlon performance is more important than the age-related de- cline in performance (Lepers et al. 2013a). With the know- ledge of the exact age of peak triathlon performance for the different distances, athletes would be able to deter- mine the best time in life to race in the different distances. Due to the gap in the literature about the exact age of peak triathlon performance over the different distances, athletes may not have been able to organize their training and plan their career as precisely as they could have with these findings. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to determine the age of peak triathlon performance for world class athletes competing in the Olympic distance using race data of the top international races of the last decade. Since the age of peak triathlon performance appears to in- crease with increasing race distance, we expected the age of peak triathlon performance for the Olympic distance to be lower than for the Half-Ironman and Ironman dis- tances. The second aim was to determine the age of peak triathlon performance for world class athletes competing in the Half-Ironman and the Ironman distances and it was assumed that the age of peak triathlon performance would be higher in the longer race distances (i.e.Half-Ironman and Ironman). We expected that the age of peak triathlon performance would be higher in the Half-Ironman dis- tance than in the Olympic distance, and higher in the Ironman distance than in both the Olympic and the Half- Ironman distances. The third aim was to investigate a potential change in the age of peak triathlon performance for the annual top athletes between 2003 and 2013 for the three different distances. It has been reported that the fast- est athletes competing in‘Ironman Hawaii’became older and faster
higher in the Ironman distance than in both the Olympic and the Half- Ironman distances. The third aim was to investigate a potential change in the age of peak triathlon performance for the annual top athletes between 2003 and 2013 for the three different distances. It has been reported that the fast- est athletes competing in‘Ironman Hawaii’became older and faster over the past few years (Gallmann et al. 2014). We expected that the age of peak triathlon performance for the fastest Ironman triathletes would increase over the last decade, while it would remain stable in athletes com- peting in the Olympic and Half-Ironman distance. The forth aim of this study was to investigate potential changes in triathlon performance over time. Since athletes compet- ing in‘Ironman Hawaii’became faster over the past few years (Gallmann et al. 2014), we expected to find an im- provement of performance in the Ironman distance, while performance would remain stable in the Olympic and Half-Ironman distance. Methods Ethics The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of St. Gallen, Switzerland, with a waiver of the requirement for informed consent given that the study involved the analysis of publicly available data. Data sampling and data analysis The data were obtained from the websites of the ITU (www.triathlon.org/results) for Olympic distance races and for Half-Ironman and Ironman distance races from the official site of Ironman triathlon races (http://eu. ironman.com/#axzz2qO2hTgJf). The races from which the data was obtained were chosen with regards to the highest competition level (i.e.world class level). Therefore, all the included races were either World Championship or Continental Championship races. In order to be able to compete at these events athletes need to qualify in quali- fier races leading to a high level in competition. All female and male triathletes who finished the top international races in the ITU (International Triathlon Union) World Triathlon Series races and in both the World and Contin- ental Championship races over the three different dis- tances between 2003 and 2013 in the top ten were analysed for race distance, performance and age. For the Olympic distance (i.e.1.5 km swimming,
All female and male triathletes who finished the top international races in the ITU (International Triathlon Union) World Triathlon Series races and in both the World and Contin- ental Championship races over the three different dis- tances between 2003 and 2013 in the top ten were analysed for race distance, performance and age. For the Olympic distance (i.e.1.5 km swimming, 40 km cycling and 10 km running), overall race times and split times of the top ten male and female athletes com- peting in 38 ITU World Triathlon Series races from 2009 to 2013 were collected (Table 1), since the World Championship in triathlon has been replaced by the ITU World Triathlon Series in 2009. Additionally to this data, overall race times and split times of the top ten women and men competing in six World Championship races from 2003 to 2008 were obtained. For the Half- Ironman distance (i.e.1.9 km swimming, 90 km cycling and 21.1 km running), overall race times and split times of the top ten women and men competing in eight World Championship races from 2006 to 2013 and eleven Continental Championships from 2007 to 2013 were collected (Table 2). For the Ironman distance (i.e. 3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling and 42.2 km run- ning), split and overall race times of the top ten women and men competing in eleven World Championship races from 2003 to 2013 and twelve Continental Cham- pionship races from 2005 to 2013 were collected (Table 3). Transition times between swimming and cyc- ling and between cycling and running were included in the overall race time for all the collected data. In order to determine the age of each athlete in each race, the date of birth of all the recorded athletes was searched, either through internet search or through dir- ect contact with the athletes or their national federation. A total of 15–20 sets of data had to be deleted due to missing or wrong split times or inability to find the date of birth of an athlete. To determine the age of peak tri- athlon performance, the top ten
athletes was searched, either through internet search or through dir- ect contact with the athletes or their national federation. A total of 15–20 sets of data had to be deleted due to missing or wrong split times or inability to find the date of birth of an athlete. To determine the age of peak tri- athlon performance, the top ten women and men ever between 2003 and 2013 for the three different distances Knechtleet al. SpringerPlus2014,3:538 Page 3 of 16 http://www.springerplus.com/content/3/1/538
Table 1 Number of ITU elite male and female starters and finishers in Olympic distance races from 2003 to 2013, WC = World Championship, ITU = International Triathlon Union Race Date Location Women finished Women started Men finished Men started WC 11-09-2013 London 47 54 60 67 ITU 24-08-2013 Stockholm 40 45 43 58 ITU 20-07-2013 Hamburg 61 65 58 65 ITU 06-07-2013 Kitzbuehel 38 39 62 65 ITU 01-06-2013 Madrid 40 53 47 62 ITU 11-05-2013 Yokohama 21 22 35 38 ITU 19-04-2013 San Diego 36 40 46 55 ITU 06-04-2013 Auckland 24 31 28 33 WC 20-10-2012 Auckland 33 43 39 44 ITU 29-09-2012 Yokohama 28 33 35 39 ITU 25-08-2012 Stockholm 51 57 58 65 ITU 21-07-2012 Hamburg 46 50 59 61 ITU 23-06-2012 Kitzbuehel 30 39 46 53 ITU 26-05-2012 Madrid 55 63 54 65 ITU 10-05-2012 San Diego 58 70 61 70 ITU 14-04-2012 Sydney 60 68 57 70 WC 19-09-2011 Yokohama 46 55 52 65 ITU 09-09-2011 Beijing 58 69 59 72 ITU 06-08-2011 London 56 65 59 65 ITU 16-07-2011 Hamburg 51 59 50 63 ITU 18-06-2011 Kitzbuehel 58 65 52 64 ITU 04-06-2011 Madrid 53 65 58 65 ITU 09-04-2011 Sydney 56 56 52 65 WC 08-09-2010 Budapest 56 68 66 75 ITU 14-08-2010 Kitzbuehel 48 64 52 65 ITU 24-07-2010 London 50 65 56 65 ITU 17-07-2010 Hamburg 52 64 53 65 ITU 05-06-2010 Madrid 56 67 54 54 ITU 08-05-2010 Seoul 42 50 55 68 ITU 11-04-2010 Sydney 39 45 46 55 WC 09-09-2009 Gold Coast 37 42 51 53 ITU 22-08-2009 Yokohama 28 30 36 44 ITU 15-08-2009 London 47 58 47 65 ITU 25-07-2009 Hamburg 37 46 51 62 ITU 11-07-2009 Kitzbuehel 40 43 49 66 ITU 21-06-2009 Washington 30 38 31 46 ITU 31-05-2009 Madrid 35 47 41 60 ITU 02-05-2009 Tongyeong 41 48 66 69 WC 08-06-2008 Vancouver 51 67 71 79 WC 01-09-2007 Hamburg 60 77 68 80 WC 03-09-2006 Lausanne 64 76 68 86 Knechtleet al. SpringerPlus2014,3:538 Page 4 of 16 http://www.springerplus.com/content/3/1/538
Description
The study analyzes age trends in triathlon performance across various distances.