ArticleSpringerPlus2014
The best triathletes are older in longer race distances - a comparison between Olympic, Half-Ironman and Ironman distance triathlon.
Article in SpringerPlus, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Performance, physiology, and determinants of success in IRONMAN® 70.3: A systematic review.PloS one · 2026Pooled it
- Modeling Pe2rformance in IRONMANSports medicine - open · 2025Article
- Cycling and Running are More Predictive of Overall Race Finish Time than Swimming in IRONMANSports medicine - open · 2025Article
- Women in the triathlon-the differences between female and male triathletes: a narrative review.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Review
- Europe has the fastest Ironman race courses and the fastest Ironman age group triathletes.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Analysis of over 1 million race records shows runners from East African countries as the fastest in 50-km ultra-marathons.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Origin and age group of the fastest amateur triathletes competing in 'Ironman Hawaii' between 2003 and 2019.Sports medicine and health science · 2024Article
- Training Characteristics, Performance, and Body Composition of Three U23 Elite Female Triathletes throughout a Season.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Predicting overall performance in Ironman 70.3 age group triathletes through split disciplines.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Participation and performance trends in short-, medium, and long-distance duathlon.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Changes in pacing variation with increasing race duration in ultra-triathlon races.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Article
- Elite Triathlete Profiles in Draft-Legal Triathlons as a Basis for Talent Identification.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Self-Selected Pacing During a World Record Attempt in 40 Ironman-Distance Triathlons in 40 Days.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- The Age-Related Performance Decline in Ironman 70.3.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Variation in competition performance, number of races, and age: Long-term athlete development in elite female swimmers.PloS one · 2020Article
- Celebrating 40 Years of Ironman: How the Champions Perform.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- The age of peak performance in women and men duathletes - The paradigm of short and long versions in "Powerman Zofingen".Open access journal of sports medicine · 2018Article
- Cracking the code for maintaining quality training in Olympic distance triathlon: lessons learnt from a squad of elite Scandinavian athletes.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2017Article
- Master Athletes Are Extending the Limits of Human Endurance.Frontiers in physiology · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was (i) to determine the age of peak triathlon performance for world class athletes competing in Olympic, Half-Ironman and Ironman distance races and (ii) to investigate a potential change in the age of the annual fastest athletes across years. Data of ages and race times of all finishers in the international top races over the three distances between 2003 and 2013 were collected and the annual top ten women and men were analysed using linear, non-linear and hierarchical multivariate regression analyses. The age of peak male performance was 27.1 ± 4.9 years in the Olympic, 28.0 ± 3.8 years in the Half-Ironman and 35.1 ± 3.6 years in the Ironman distance and the age of peak male performance was higher in the Ironman compared to the Olympic (p < 0.05) and the Half-Ironman distance (p < 0.05) triathlon. The age of peak female performance was 26.6 ± 4.4 years in the Olympic, 31.6 ± 3.4 years in the Half-Ironman and 34.4 ± 4.4 years in the Ironman distance and the age of peak female performance was lower in the Olympic compared to the Half-Ironman (p < 0.05) and Ironman distance (p < 0.05) triathlon. The age of the annual top ten women and men remained unchanged over the last decade in the Half-Ironman and the Ironman distance. In the Olympic distance, however, the age of the annual top ten men decreased slightly. To summarize, the age of peak triathlon performance was higher in the longer triathlon race distances (i.e. Ironman) and the age of the annual top triathletes remained mainly stable over the last decade. With these findings top athletes competing at world class level can plan their career more precisely as they are able to determine the right time in life to switch from the shorter (i.e. Olympic distance) to the longer triathlon race distances (i.e. Half-Ironman and Ironman) in order to continuously compete in triathlon races at world class level.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.