The Age-Related Performance Decline in Ironman 70.3
1
Medbase St. Gallen Am Vadianplatz, 9001 St. Gallen, Switzerland
2
College of Arts, Media & Design, Bouve College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
3
Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
4
Exercise Physiology Laboratory, 18450 Nikaia, Greece
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(6), 2148; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062148
Received: 9 February 2020
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Revised: 19 March 2020
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Accepted: 20 March 2020
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Published: 24 March 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Stress and Training Load Effects on Recovery, Well-Being and Sports Performance)
Although the age-related decline in sport events has been well studied, little is known on such a decline in recreational triathletes for the Half Ironman distance. Indeed, the few existing studies concentrated on specific aspects such as top events, elite groups, some consecutive years, single locations, or age categories instead of analyzing all the data available. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine recreational triathletes’ performance in three split disciplines (swimming, cycling, and running) as well as in overall race time by analyzing all data of Half Ironman finishers found on ironman.com (i.e., 690 races; years 2004 through 2018; 206,524 women (24.6%) and 633,576 men (75.4%), in total 840,100 athletes). The age-dependent decline in Half Ironman started earliest in swimming (from the very first age group on) with a smallest age group delta between 35–49 years in men and 40–54 years in women. The performance decline started at 26 and 28 years in men and women for running; at 34 years for men and 35 years for women in cycling; and at 32 years for men and 31 years for women with regard to overall race time. The results may be used by coaches and recreational athletes alike to plan a triathlon career.
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Keywords:
half ironman; ironman 70.3; age-dependent performance decline; masters athletes; triathlon; endurance; multi-sports; split disciplines
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MDPI and ACS Style
Jäckel, K.; Sousa, C.V.; Villiger, E.; Nikolaidis, P.T.; Knechtle, B. The Age-Related Performance Decline in Ironman 70.3. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 2148. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062148
AMA Style
Jäckel K, Sousa CV, Villiger E, Nikolaidis PT, Knechtle B. The Age-Related Performance Decline in Ironman 70.3. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(6):2148. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062148
Chicago/Turabian StyleJäckel, Kristian, Caio Victor Sousa, Elias Villiger, Pantelis T. Nikolaidis, and Beat Knechtle. 2020. "The Age-Related Performance Decline in Ironman 70.3" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 6: 2148. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062148
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