Celebrating 40 Years of Ironman: How the Champions Perform

Lucas Pinheiro Barbosa, Caio Victor Sousa, Marcelo Magalhães Sales, Rafael dos Reis Olher, Samuel Silva Aguiar, Patrick Anderson Santos, Eduard Tiozzo, Herbert Gustavo Simões, Pantelis Theodoros Nikolaidis and Beat Knechtle
Additional contact information
Lucas Pinheiro Barbosa: Graduate Program in Physical Education, Catholic University of Brasília, 71966-700 Brasília, Brazil
Caio Victor Sousa: Graduate Program in Physical Education, Catholic University of Brasília, 71966-700 Brasília, Brazil
Marcelo Magalhães Sales: Physical Education Department, Goias State University, Quirinópolis, 75860-000 GO, Brazil
Rafael dos Reis Olher: Graduate Program in Physical Education, Catholic University of Brasília, 71966-700 Brasília, Brazil
Samuel Silva Aguiar: Graduate Program in Physical Education, Catholic University of Brasília, 71966-700 Brasília, Brazil
Patrick Anderson Santos: Graduate Program in Physical Education, Catholic University of Brasília, 71966-700 Brasília, Brazil
Eduard Tiozzo: Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA
Herbert Gustavo Simões: Graduate Program in Physical Education, Catholic University of Brasília, 71966-700 Brasília, Brazil
Pantelis Theodoros Nikolaidis: Exercise Physiology Laboratory, 18450 Nikaia, Greece
Beat Knechtle: Medbase St. Gallen Am Vadianplatz, 9001 St. Gallen, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-9

Abstract: We aimed to determine which discipline had the greater performance improvements in the history of Ironman triathlon in Hawaii and also which discipline had the greater influence in overall race time. Data from 1983 to 2018 of the top three women and men of each year who competed in the Ironman World Championship were included. In addition to exploratory data analyses, linear regressions between split times and years of achievement were performed. Further, a stepwise multiple linear regression was applied using total race time as the dependent variable and split times as the independent variables. Both women and men significantly improved their performances from 1983 to 2018 in the Ironman World Championship. Swimming had the largest difference in improvements between men and women (3.0% versus 12.1%, respectively). A negative and significant decrease in each discipline was identified for both women and men, with cycling being the discipline with the greatest reduction. The results from the stepwise multiple regression indicated that cycling was the discipline with the highest influence on overall race time for both sexes. Based on the findings of this study, cycling seems to be the Ironman triathlon discipline that most improved overall race times and is also the discipline with the greatest influence on the overall race time of elite men and women in the Ironman World Championship.

Keywords: triathlon; cycling; running; swimming; endurance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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