Author(s): CUNIBERTI, G., BENAMATI, A., FIORASO, E., PEDRINOLLA, A., SCHENA, F., BORTOLAN, L., PELLEGRINI, B., CALLOVINI, A., Institution: UNIVERSITY OF VERONA, Country: ITALY, Abstract-ID: 1553

INTRODUCTION:
Recently, prominent victories by older athletes across Winter Olympic disciplines have highlighted a potential aging trend, suggesting that elite performance can be maintained beyond the theoretical physiological prime. While physiological decline begins after age 25, mainly due to a decline in VO2max (1) and a decrease in Type II muscle fibers (2), experience and technical efficiency may counterbalance these decrements. This study analysed age trends in Olympic and World Championship winter sports medallists over the last 20 years, examining the influence of sex and sport-specific metabolic demands.
METHODS:
The ages of all medallists (N = 12250) in World Championships and Olympic Games from Torino 2006 through the current quadrennium leading to Milano-Cortina 2026 were collected. Events were grouped into chronological quadrennia (Q1: 2007-10; Q5: 2023-26) and included only if they were part of the Olympic program for the respective period. Events were categorized into three discipline clusters based on sport-specific metabolic demands: endurance (END; e.g., cross-country skiing), anaerobic (ANA; e.g., ski jumping, freestyle skiing), and aerobic-anaerobic (AE-ANA; e.g., figure skating, Nordic combined). Furthermore, events were classified by the event’s sex: males (M), females (F), or mixed (MIX). Data were analysed via a three-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc test for multiple comparisons.
RESULTS:
A sex-by-cluster-by-time interaction was found (p<.001). Post-hoc analysis revealed that M showed an aging trend (Q3 vs Q5, + 1.4 years, p=0.04) in ANA only. Similarly, F medallists’ age increased from Q3 to Q5 in ANA (+1.5 years, p=0.04), but the same aging trend was observed for F also in AE-ANA disciplines (Q1 vs Q5, +1.9 years, p<.001). MIX events medallists revealed an aging trend only in AE-ANA (Q3 vs Q5, +2.9 years, p=0.008). Overall, END medallists (95% CI, 27.6-27.93) were generally older than those competing in ANA (95% CI, 26.54-26.84; p<.001) and AE-ANA (95% CI, 26.11-26.38; p<.001). M medallists were older than those in MIX events (+0.7 years, p<.001), who were in turn older than F medallists (+1.1 years, p=0.02), independently of cluster and time.
CONCLUSION:
These findings confirmed a trend of medallists’ aging in ANA and AE-ANA winter sports, particularly evident over the last two Olympic cycles. The overall older age observed in END medallists likely reflects the time required to accumulate the high training volumes necessary for elite performance. Notably, the persistently younger ages of female medallists, despite the observed aging trend, warrant further investigation into the socio-cultural and physiological factors influencing career duration in women's winter sports.

(1) Tanaka&Seals (2008); (2) Reaburn&Dascombe (2009).