Journal
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND MEDICINE IN SPORT
Volume 22, Issue 3, Pages 342-347Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2018.08.011
Keywords
Track and field; Performance development; Sport specialization; Talent
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Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe and analyse the performance career trajectories for Italian athletes that participated in sprint, hurdles, discus throw, and shot-put athletics events. Design: Retrospective study, data collected between 1994 and 2014. Methods: A total of 5929 athletes (female: n = 2977, 50.2%) were included in the study. The age of entering competition and personal best performance was identified in the official competition records. Personal best performances were ranked in percentiles and top-level athletes were considered those in the highest 4% of the performance distribution. Results: Overall, when controlling for the age of entering competition, top-level athletes reached their personal best later (i.e., around 23-25 years old) for all events compared to the rest of the athletes. Moreover, regression analysis showed that entering competitions later was linked to better performances during adulthood. Also, only 17%-26% [90% CI] of the top-level adult athletes were considered as such when they were 14-17 years old. Conclusions: Together, these findings suggest that early sport success is not a strong predictor of top-level performance at senior level. Entering sport-specific competitions later and lengthening the sports career at beyond 23-25 years of age may be important factors to reach top-level performance in sprint and throwing events. 2018 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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