RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To provide normative values of physical fitness in Paralympic winter sports athletes competing in a sitting posture and to identify the components relevant for successful performance. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study with sports. SETTING: The Institute of Sports Medicine and Science of the Italian National Olympic Committee (Rome, Italy). PARTICIPANTS: Fifteen Alpine skiers (3 BP), 16 Nordic skiers (2 BP), 10 curlers (2 BP), and 34 ISH players (7 BP). INDEPENDENT VARIABLES: Curling, Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, and ice sledge hockey (ISH). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Physical fitness components. Oxygen uptake peak (V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak; L·min and mL·kg·min), mechanical work in a high-intensity exhaustion exercise (MW-HIE; kJ and kJ·kg), upper-body strength (N and N·kg), mean explosive power (MEP; W and W·kg) in a 10-second arm cranking ergometer Wingate test, and fat mass (FM) (% body mass) were primary outcome measures when assessed in the whole sport groups and secondary outcome measures when separating the BP from the others. RESULTS: Based on 1-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc test (P < 0.05), V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak and MW-HIE were highest in Nordic skiers (2.9 ± 0.53 L·min and 18.3 ± 3.98 kJ) and similar in ISH players and Alpine skiers (2.5 ± 0.42 and 2.3 ± 0.44 L·min and 17.4 ± 2.62 and 16.8 ± 7.41 kJ, respectively). Alpine skiers showed the highest absolute strength values (1210.1 ± 220.92 N). Curlers had the highest FM (26.2% ± 7.74%) and the lowest V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak (1.8 ± 0.35 L·min), MW-HIE (11.4 ± 2.40 kJ), and MEP (251.1 ± 67.16 W). Among the BP, Nordic skiers, ISH players, and Alpine skiers showed VO2peak, MW-HIE, and strength equal to 3.4 ± 0.60, 2.9 ± 0.38, and 2.8 ± 0.18 L·min⻹ and 22.6 ± 4.04, 19.4 ± 2.84, and 18.4 ± 7.86 kJ, and 975.4 ± 115.03, 1183.4 ± 60.43, and 1279.2 ± 279.1 N, [corrected] respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Analyzing physical fitness data of athletes competing in the last 4 winter Paralympic Games, normative values are provided. The specific components that are highly developed in the BP are considered relevant for successful performance.