Andy Marc

Marathon progress: demography, morphology and environment.

Abstract As opposed to many other track-and-field events, marathon performances still improve. We choose to better describe the reasons for such a progression. The 100 best marathon runners archived from January 1990 to December 2011 for men and from January 1996 to December 2011 for women were analysed. We determined the impact of historical, demographic, physiological, seasonal and environmental factors. Performances in marathons improve at every level of performance (deciles). In 2011, 94% of the 100 best men athletes were African runners; among women athletes they were 52%. Morphological indicators (stature, body mass and Body Mass Index (BMI)) have decreased. We show a parabolic function between BMI and running speed. The seasonal distribution has two peaks, in spring (weeks 14 to 17) and autumn (weeks 41 to 44). During both periods, the average temperature of the host cities varies close to optimal value for long distance race. African men and women runners are increasingly dominating the marathon and pushing its record, through optimal eco-physiological conditions.

Secular trend: morphology and performance

In a context of morphological expansion of the general population, how do athletes follow such a pattern of anthropometric growth? Is there any relation to performance? Biometric data including mass, height, body mass index (BMI) and age were collected for 50,376 American athletes representing 249,336 annual performers playing in professional baseball, football, ice hockey and basketball. Distributions by mass in National Football League (NFL) players are described by periods. Field goals have been studied in relation to players’ height in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Between 1871 and 2011, athletes from the four sports have increased significantly in mass, height and BMI, following a multi-exponential function series. Consequently, biometric differences between athletes and the general population are increasing gradually. Changes in the mass distribution within the NFL show the emergence of a biometrical specificity in relation to the field position. At the professional level, performance remains structured around precise biometric values. In the NBA, a height-attractor at 201.3 ± 6.3 cm for the best scorers is invariant, regardless of the level of play. These results suggest that laws of growth and biometrics drive high-level sport and organise performance around the specific constraint of each field position. Discrepancies between some mass and height developments question the (disproportionate) large mass increase (relative to the height increase) during the 1980s and 1990s.

Return to Sport Among French Alpine Skiers After an Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture Results From 1980 to 2013

Background: There is little known about return to sport and performance after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in high-level alpine skiers. Purpose: To analyze the parameters that influence the return to sport and performance after an ACL tear in French alpine skiers from 1980 to 2013. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: The study population included 239 male and 238 female skiers who competed on the national French alpine ski team for at least 1 season between 1980 and 2013 in the speed (downhill and super-G) and technical disciplines (giant slalom and slalom). Two groups were formed: group 1 (G1) included athletes who had sustained an ACL rupture, and group 2 (G2) included athletes who had never sustained an ACL rupture. Three performance indicators were selected: International Ski Federation (FIS) points calculation, FIS ranking, and podium finishes in the World Cup, World Championships, and Olympic Games. Results: The first-decile FIS points and international FIS ranking showed that G1 skiers obtained better performance than did G2 skiers. The mean ± SD career length of G1 skiers (men, 7.9 ± 4.7 years; women, 7.1 ± 4.1 years) was longer than that of G2 skiers (men, 4.5 ± 3.3 years; women, 4.2 ± 3.5 years). In addition, 12.8% (61 of 477) of the skiers achieved at least a podium finish during their careers: 23.0% (34 of 148) in G1 and 8.3% (27 of 329) in G2. The mean age at ACL rupture was 22.6 ± 4.1 years for men and 19.9 ± 3.5 years for women. In G1, 55 podiums were achieved before ACL rupture and 176 after in all competitions. Skiers who improved their performances after ACL rupture were significantly younger (men, 22.2 ± 3.0 years; women, 18.7 ± 2.2 years; P < .0001) at the time of injury than those showing a performance deterioration after ACL rupture (men, 25.3 ± 4.2 years; women, 22.4 ± 4.0 years). All skiers who had ACL tears continued their competitive careers after the injury. Conclusion: The overall results showed that it is possible to return to preinjury or even higher levels of performance after an ACL rupture and that age is the main element that guides postsurgical recovery.

Mortality in Female and Male French Olympians A 1948-2013 Cohort Study

Background: Whereas intense physical activity has been associated with deleterious effects on elite athletes’ health, in particular due to cardiovascular anomalies, long-term follow-ups have suggested lower mortality rates among elite athletes. Causes of death for French Olympic athletes and female elite athletes have not been studied. Hypothesis/Purpose: We aimed to measure overall and disease-specific mortality of French female and male Olympians compared with the French general population. We hypothesize that Olympians, both women and men, have lower mortality rates. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: French elite athletes (601 women and 1802 men) participating in summer or winter Olympic Games from 1948 to 2010 had their vital status verified by national sources and were followed until 2013. Causes of death were obtained via the National Death registry from 1968 to 2012. Overall and disease-specific mortalities of Olympians were compared with those of the French general population through standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) and 95% CIs. Olympians’ observed and expected survivals were illustrated by Kaplan-Meier curves. Results: At the endpoint of the study, 13 women and 222 men had died. Overall mortality in Olympians compared with that of their compatriots was 51% lower (SMR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.26-0.85) among women and 49% lower (SMR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.45-0.59) among men. Olympic athletes’ survival is significantly superior to that of the French general population (women, P = .03; men, P < .001). According to the total deaths occurring from 1968 to 2012 (12 among women, 202 among men), female Olympians died from neoplasm (50.0%), external causes (33.3%), and cardiovascular diseases (16.6%). The main causes of death among men were related to neoplasms (36.1%), cardiovascular diseases (24.3%), and external causes (14.4%). Regarding the main causes of mortality among male Olympic athletes, the SMRs were as follows: 0.55 for neoplasms (95% CI, 0.43-0.69), 0.55 for cardiovascular diseases (95% CI, 0.41-0.73), and 0.66 for external causes (95% CI, 0.44-0.94). Conclusion: French Olympians live longer than their compatriots: A lower overall mortality of similar magnitude is observed among male and female athletes compared with the general population. The main causes of death in French Olympians are neoplasms, cardiovascular diseases, and external causes.

Environment and scheduling effects on sprint and middle distance running performances.

Purpose Achievement of athletes’ performances is related to several factors including physiological, environmental and institutional cycles where physical characteristics are involved. The objective of this study is to analyse the performance achieved in professional sprint and middle-distance running events (100 m to 1500 m) depending on the organization of the annual calendar of track events and their environmental conditions. Methods From 2002 to 2008, all performances of the Top 50 international athletes in the 100 m to 1500 m races (men and women) are collected. The historical series of world records and the 10 best annual performances in these events, amounted to a total of 26,544 performances, are also included in the study. Results Two periods with a higher frequency of peak performances are observed. The first peak occurs around the 27.15th ±0.21 week (first week of July) and the second peak around 34.75th ±0.14 week (fourth week of August). The second peak tends to be the time of major international competitions (Olympic Games, World Championships, and European Championships) and could be characterized as an institutional moment. The first one, however, corresponds to an environmental optimum as measured by the narrowing of the temperature range at the highest performance around 23.25±3.26°C. Conclusions This is the first study to demonstrate that there are two performance peaks at a specific time of year (27th and 34th weeks) in sprint and middle distance. Both institutional and ecophysiological aspects contribute to performance in the 100 m to 1500 m best performances and define the contours of human possibilities. Sport institutions may take this into account in order to provide ideal conditions to improve the next records.

Age and Performance from 10 Seconds to a 6-Days Race

Purpose: An increasing amount of people are turning to new challenges such as the completion of an ultra-marathon and choose to continue to train intensively despite advanced age. As a result, numerous epidemiological data are available and constitute an experimental model for the research community that studies the effects of aging on physiological functions. The objective of the study is to measure the relationships between age and performance over the entire athletic spectrum from 100 m up to the 6-day ultra-marathon event for men and women. Method: The Top 50 male and female ages and race speed races of all time were compiled with 12 events ranging from 100 m to 6-day races (N=1200). A second database made up of record race-speeds by age (N=1682) was created for all 12 events and for both genders. Results: For both genders, a very significant increase (p<0.01) in age for the Top 50 based on race distance is noticeable from the 100 m sprint to the 6-day race, with an even higher climb starting at the marathon. On the other hand, the age range also increases with the running distance for both genders. The area under the curve (AUC) decreases significantly (p<0.01) with the race distance for both genders. Conclusion: This study measured the impact of aging on the worlds best performances ranging from sprints to ultra-endurance events in a context where peak-age performance increases with the distance of the event for both genders.