Age of Anaerobic, Aerobic, and Skill-Based Olympic Athletes 1988 - 2024

Abstract

The age at which athletes compete at a high-level provides understanding of human physiology, development, aging and skill refinement. The Olympics, with high-level performances across events with differing metabolic demands, provide unique data for analysis of optimal performance age given the type of performance required. The aim of this study was to classify Olympic events from 1988-2024 into aerobic, anaerobic, mixed, or skill, and compare male and female athlete ages in each classification. Events of maximal effort under 2-minutes duration were classified as anaerobic. Events longer than 5 minutes were classified as aerobic with those 2-5 minutes duration classified as mixed. Other events that are unlikely to stress aerobic or anaerobic metabolic systems were classified as skill. Athlete age was 24.1 ± 4.6 years for anaerobic, 26.8 ± 4.7 years for aerobic, 24.8 ± 4.6 years for mixed, and 27.8 ± 6.9 years for skill. When separated by sex, female athletes were younger in each classification. Male anaerobic athletes (24.7 ± 4.2) were younger than aerobic (26.9 ± 4.6) and skill (28.9 ± 6.9), but similar in age to mixed athletes (25.0 ± 4.4). Female anaerobic athletes (23.2 ± 5.0) were younger than aerobic (26.7 ± 4.8), skill (26.4 ± 6.5), and mixed (24.4 ± 4.8). Male Olympic athletes in skill-based events that do not stress energy systems compete at older ages than those in events that tax physiologic systems. Female Olympic aerobic and skill athletes, compete at older ages than those in events requiring a significant anaerobic contribution. This analysis provides evidence that event demands likely differ by classification and sex and therefore influence performance age.

Keywords: Peak-performance; athlete development; elite; event duration; exercise; sport.

Figure 1

Box plot represents median and interquartile ranges with whiskers indicating minimum and maximum ages of athletes in aerobic, anaerobic, mixed, and skill groups.