BACKGROUND: The COVID 19 pandemic has greatly disrupted high performance sport and international competition. The aim of this study was to quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world's top 10 performances in Athletics and Swimming among nondisabled and Paralympic athletes. METHODS:The results of the 10-best world performers in 66 Olympic events since 1891 and 255 Paralympic events since 2010 were collected. To quantify the performance trend, the slopes of the 4 years moving average were calculated and analyzed by time period. The distribution of performances (in % of the world record) by year was analyzed to compare the 2020 values to the ten previous years. The stability rate (athletes joining and leaving each year) since 2010 and the number of annual competitions events were also measured.RESULTS: Over the study period, such declines in performance have only been observed during the two World Wars. In 2020, the level of performances has decreased significantly, corresponding to a 6 to 10 years setback. In 2020, the number of new athletes in the 10-best was significantly higher with a lower number of organized competitions. CONCLUSIONS:The impact on the performances of the best international non-disabled and Para athletes has been considerable.
Objectives: To identify the potential bias of the relative age effect (RAE) in French 16 alpine skiers and to propose a mathematical correction adjustment for such a bias.17Methods: All performances and birthdates of skiers on the national and 18 international circuit were collected from the 2004 up to 2019. A goodness-of-fit 19 chi-square test and the residuals were used to study distribution of birth trimesters 20 in youth competitors. A linear relationship between the distribution of 21 performances and the months obtain a calibration coefficient allowing to rebalance 22 the performance by considering the effect of RAE. 23 Results: Individuals born at the beginning of the year are over-represented in the 24 elite young selections in all disciplines for both genders. A coefficient based on 25 the relationship between month of birth and performance adjusts individual 26 performance and cancels out the effect of RAE. 27 Conclusion: The RAE is present in French alpine skiing. We present a method 28 allowing to consider the effect of the RAE in the performances realized in each 29 gender and discipline. This method allows coaches to have a more objective 30 opinion on performance and to reduce selection bias.
Purpose: To measure the proportion of French swimmers that progressed, stagnated, or regressed during the 2020 national championship compared with previous ones. Method: Individual best performances were collected at the French national championships from 2000 to 2020. Yearly proportions of swimmers who improved, stagnated, or regressed in performances were compared with their previous performances. Results: In 2020, the proportion of swimmers with performance regression has significantly increased (33% vs 17% in 2019). Women showed a higher proportion of performance regression (41%) than men (26%, P < .0001) in 2020. Only 39% of women and 53% of men experienced progression in 2020 (vs 60.8% [3.7%] and 66.7% [5.2%], respectively, in the previous years). Only the 2008 and 2009 championships showed a regression proportion that did not increase with age. The 2010 championship (the year of swimsuits ban) showed a higher proportion of regressing athletes than these previous years. Long-distance events showed higher proportion of performance regression (36.2% [0.5%]) for 400-, 800-, and 1500-m races than for short-distance ones (32.1% [3.2%]; 50-, 100-, and 200-m events). Breaststroke events showed higher regression (42.4%) than other styles (30.5% [2.1%]). Younger swimmers more often improved their performance than older ones (61.9% [8.5%] for swimmers less than 18 y of age vs 20.0% [10.8%] for those 25 y and older). Conclusion: A high proportion of swimmers experienced performance regression during the 2020 French national championships. A higher impact was observed among female, long-distance, and breaststroke swimmers. Eight weeks of lockdown without training may have led to poorer swimming performances.
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