| Title |
Age of Peak Competitive Performance of Elite Athletes: A Systematic Review
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Sports Medicine, June 2015
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s40279-015-0354-3 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Sian V. Allen, Will G. Hopkins |
| Abstract |
Knowledge of the age at which elite athletes achieve peak performance could provide important information for long-term athlete development programmes, event selection and strategic decisions regarding resource allocation. The objective of this study was to systematically review published estimates of age of peak performance of elite athletes in the twenty-first century. We searched SPORTDiscus, PubMed and Google Scholar for studies providing estimates of age of peak performance. Here we report estimates as means only for top (international senior) athletes. Estimates were assigned to three event-type categories on the basis of the predominant attributes required for success in the given event (explosive power/sprint, endurance, mixed/skill) and then plotted by event duration for analysis of trends. For both sexes, linear trends reasonably approximated the relationships between event duration and estimates of age of peak performance for explosive power/sprint events and for endurance events. In explosive power/sprint events, estimates decreased with increasing event duration, ranging from ~27 years (athletics throws, ~1-5 s) to ~20 years (swimming, ~21-245 s). Conversely, estimates for endurance events increased with increasing event duration, ranging from ~20 years (swimming, ~2-15 min) to ~39 years (ultra-distance cycling, ~27-29 h). There was little difference in estimates of peak age for these event types between men and women. Estimations of the age of peak performance for athletes specialising in specific events and of event durations that may best suit talent identification of athletes can be obtained from the equations of the linear trends. There were insufficient data to investigate trends for mixed/skill events. Differences in the attributes required for success in different sporting events likely contribute to the wide range of peak-performance ages of elite athletes. Understanding the relationships between age of peak competitive performance and event duration should be useful for tracking athlete progression and talent identification. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 53 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 9 | 17% |
| United States | 7 | 13% |
| Australia | 4 | 8% |
| Canada | 3 | 6% |
| Guatemala | 1 | 2% |
| Ireland | 1 | 2% |
| Brazil | 1 | 2% |
| Denmark | 1 | 2% |
| Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of | 1 | 2% |
| Other | 6 | 11% |
| Unknown | 19 | 36% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 32 | 60% |
| Scientists | 16 | 30% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 4 | 8% |
| Unknown | 1 | 2% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 388 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | 2 | <1% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | <1% |
| Italy | 1 | <1% |
| United States | 1 | <1% |
| Poland | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 381 | 98% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 69 | 18% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 51 | 13% |
| Student > Bachelor | 48 | 12% |
| Researcher | 24 | 6% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 17 | 4% |
| Other | 62 | 16% |
| Unknown | 117 | 30% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Sports and Recreations | 154 | 40% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 22 | 6% |
| Psychology | 20 | 5% |
| Social Sciences | 16 | 4% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 11 | 3% |
| Other | 42 | 11% |
| Unknown | 123 | 32% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 130. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 March 2024.
All research outputs
#322,320
of 25,537,395 outputs
Outputs from Sports Medicine
#310
of 2,885 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#3,311
of 279,101 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Sports Medicine
#5
of 33 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,537,395 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 98th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,885 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 57.1. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 33 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 87% of its contemporaries.