Investigating the impact age has on within-over and death bowling performances in international level 50-over cricket.

The aims of this investigation were to determine if ageing effects were present in elite international level cricket. Ball-by-ball data were analysed for 96 bowlers in the 50-Over World Cup 2019. Bowlers were categorized into 1 of 3 age groups GROUP 1 (18-24), GROUP 2 (25-31) and GROUP 3 (32+). Ordinal Logistic Regressions (OLR) and Multinomial Logistic Regressions (MLR) were conducted to estimate the relationship between age and bowling performances. OLR Results revealed that younger bowlers were significantly more likely to concede a greater number of runs on the last ball of their overs than their older counterparts (p = 0.001). A separate MLR analysis was conducted for those bowlers entrusted to bowl during the "death" phase of an innings, and results revealed that GROUP 2 bowlers were significantly more likely to take wickets than either GROUP 1 (p = 0.021) or GROUP 3 (p = 0.022) bowlers. The evidence indicates that wicket taking "death bowlers" will likely perform at their peak between the ages of 25-31, which could inform the bowling strategy of team captains. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that younger bowlers are not as skilled as their older counterparts at restricting runs conceded.

The age of the best ultramarathon performance - the case of the "Comrades Marathon".

The aim of the present study was to determine the age of the fastest running speed in 202,370 runners (34,090 women and 168,280 men) competing in the "Comrades Marathon" between 1994 and 2015 using non-linear regression analysis (second order polynomial function). When all runners were considered in 1-year age intervals, the fastest running speed (9.61 ± 1.65 km/h) was achieved at the age of 29.89 years in men, whereas women achieved it at the age of 35.96 years 8.60 ± 1.10 km/h. When the fastest runners were considered in 1-year intervals, the fastest running speed (16.65 km/h) was achieved in men at the age of 36.38 years. For the fastest women, the age of the fastest running speed (13.89 km/h) was 32.75 years. To summarize, for all runners, men achieved the best ultramarathon performance ~6 years earlier than women. When the fastest runners were considered, however, men achieved the best performance ~4 years later than women.

Peak Performance: Characteristics and Key Factors in the Development of the World Top-8 Swimmers Based on Longitudinal Data.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the peak performance characteristics of the world top-8 swimmers and the key factors involved in the journey toward achieving better peak performance. METHODS: The results of the world top-8 swimmers from 2001 to 2022 were collected from the World Aquatics performance database. Progression to peak performance was tracked with individual quadratic trajectories (1191 cases). Utilizing k-means clustering to group competitive feature variables, this study investigated key developmental factors through a binary logistic regression model, using the odds ratio (OR) to represent whether a factor was favorable (OR > 1) or unfavorable (OR < 1). RESULTS: Significant differences (P < .001) in the peak age between men (23.54/3.80) and women (22.31/4.60) were noticed, while no significant differences (P > .05) in the peak-performance window for both sexes appeared. Peak performance occurred at later ages for the sprint for both sexes, and women had a longer duration in peak-performance window for sprint (P < .05). Peak-performance occurred at later ages for the breaststroke and butterfly for both sexes (P < .05). Binary logistic regression revealed that high first-participation performance (OR = 1.502), high major-competition performance (OR = 4.165), early first-major-competition age (OR = 1.441), participation frequency above 4 times/year in both phase 2 (4.3-8.0 times/y, OR = 3.940; 8.1-20.0 times/y, OR = 5.122) and phase 3 (4.1-7.5 times/y: OR = 5.548; 7.7-15.0 times/y: OR = 7.526), and a career length of 10 years or more (10-15 y, OR = 2.102; 16-31 y, OR = 3.480) were favorable factors for achieving better peak performance. CONCLUSIONS: Peak performance characteristics varied across sex, swimming stroke, and race distance in the world top-8 swimmers. Meanwhile, the research indicated that certain specific developmental factors were key conditions for the world top-8 swimmers to achieve better peak performance in the future.

Are Soccer Players Older Now Than Before? Aging Trends and Market Value in the Last Three Decades of the UEFA Champions League.

The aims of the current study were to analyze the evolution of players' age in the UEFA Champions League since the start of its modern-day format in 1992-1993 up until 2017-2018 and to determine how the players' age relates to their market value. The sample consisted of all players participating in the UEFA Champions League from the 1992-1993 to 2017-2018 seasons (n = 16062). The following variables were used in this study: players' age, number of seasons in the club, number of Champions Leagues won, team performance, and market value of the player in the season. Data were examined using a one-way ANOVA and a linear regression. The main finding of the current study is that an aging trend has occurred in the last three decades in the Champions League. A significant increase in average players' age (>1.6 years) was observed, rising from an age of 24.9 to 26.5 years. Goalkeepers and Center Backs tend to peak later than attackers, and their peak performance can last until an age of about 31 years. Finally, an inverted-U curve defines the association between market value and age, with peak value appearing in the 26-30 age range. These results provide useful information regarding at which age soccer players are likely to perform at the highest level, as well as the age they are likely to have the highest market value.

Age-Related Changes in Para and Wheelchair Racing Athlete's Performances.

During the last decades, all para-athletes with disabilities have significantly increased their performance level due to technological progress and human investment, through better training or recovery protocols, medical care and nutritional monitoring. Among these elements, the athlete's age is one of the determining factors in performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of age on maximal performances for para-athletes and wheelchair racing athletes, scaled on able-bodied records. We collected 53,554 results including athlete's best performance of the year, event, age and disability classification from the International Paralympic Committee competitions between 2009 and 2017 for both female and male para-athletics and wheelchair racing disciplines for a total of 472 sport events in Track and Field (considering each impairment type for each event) and gathered the all-time able-bodied records from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) at the end of 2017. Maximal performance by age was fitted with the Moore function for each para-athletics and wheelchair racing event. This study finds a similar age-related pattern in maximal performance among para-athletes and wheelchair racing athletes. The age at peak performance varies according to sex, impairment type and event and increases gradually from sprint to endurance events. The best Top 100 performances include a large age range suggesting that performance has probably not been optimized yet for most elite para-athletes and wheelchair racers. The next Paralympic Games of Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 will certainly offer exceptional performance.