Home advantage in the Winter Olympics (1908-1998)

Abstract

We obtained indices of home advantage, based on the medals won by competing nations, for each event held at the Winter Olympics from 1908 to 1998. These indices were designed to assess home advantage while controlling for nation strength, changes in the number of medals on oVer and the performance of 'non-hosting' nations. Some evidence of home advantage was found in Wgure skating, freestyle skiing, ski jumping, alpine skiing and short track speed skating. In contrast, little or no home advantage was observed in ice hockey, Nordic combined, Nordic skiing, bobsled, luge, biathlon or speed skating. When all events were combined, a signiWcant home advantage was observed (P = 0.029), although no signiWcant diVerences in the extent of home advantage were found between events (P > 0.05). When events were grouped according to whether they were subjectively assessed by judges, signiWcantly greater home advantage was observed in the subjectively assessed events (P = 0.037). This was a reXection of better home performances, suggesting that judges were scoring home competitors disproportionately higher than away competitors. Familiarity with local conditions was shown to have some eVect, particularly in alpine skiing, although the bobsled and luge showed little or no advantage over other events. Regression analysis showed that the number of time zones and direction of travel produced no discernible trends or diVerences in performance.

Do judges enhance home advantage in European championship boxing?

“…Furthermore, bias has been identified as a result of within-team order (Ansorge, Scheer, Laub, & Howard, 1978;Scheer & Ansorge, 1975) and as a result of prior knowledge for both subjectively judged disciplines (Ste-Marie and Lee, 1996;Ste-Marie & Valiquette, 1996) and interestingly in football (Jones, Paull, & Erskine, 2002). Recent evidence also suggests that bias in subjectively judged sports may also extend to home advantage (Balmer, Nevill, & Williams, 2001;Balmer et al, 2003).…”

Home advantage in the Commonwealth Games

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] However, the Olympic Games is the only multi-sport competition of global significance in which the phenomenon has been extensively examined. 1,2,9 The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the 'Friendly Games', is arguably the second most significant multi-sport international sporting competition, behind the Olympics. Furthermore, some of the sports historically contested in the Commonwealth Games (e.g.…”

The Home Advantage: Performance Effects in Female Collegiate Division I Gymnastics

“…There is support to suggest that subjectively judged sports are favored by a home advantage (Balmer, Nevill, & Williams, 2001;Balmer, Nevill, & Williams, 2003;Balmer et al 2005 Additionally, officials should consider which venues are selected for regional and national championships. Currently, regional championships are held at one of the venues within the six teams of that region (NAWGJ, 2007).…”