Heavy Throws Statistical Analysis

Transcription

1 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES REPORT Heavy Throws Statistical Analysis Produced by Malcolm Fenton England National Coach Mentor for the With the assistance of Emily Parker and Tom Crick

2 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE HEAVY THROWS Competition data and athlete details have been obtained from the IAAF website. Rankings and record information has been taken from the Tilastopaja Website. Historical graphs were provided by Ian Tempest, NUTS. Men s Shot Put page 3 Women s Shot Put page 5 Men s Hammer Throw page 7 Women s Hammer Throw page 8 MEN S SHOT PUT 23.12m 22.31m 20.50m 20.65m Table 1: Standards for the Men s Shot Put The World Record for the Men s Shot Put is (table 1), set by Randy Barnes in Coming into the Olympics, the 2012 World lead was held by Christian Cantwell with 22.31m. The IAAF A standard was 20.50m, and the automatic qualifying mark for the final was set at 20.65m. This was achieved by five men, three of whom (who turned out to be the medallists) achieved this on their first round throw. Men s Discus Throw page 9 Women s Discus Throw page 11 Across Event Comparisons page 13 Across Gender Comparisons page 15 Figure 1: Qualifying for Men s Shot Put final in at past Figure 2: Distance for 1st and 8th position past Olympics and World Championships 2 3

3 The competition was won by Tomasz Majewski in 21.89m, with David Storl taking the silver in 21.86m and Reese Hoffa picking up the bronze with a Put of 21.23m. It took a distance of 20.25m to make the final, and 20.69m to make the top 8. It is evident from figure 1 that the distance required to make the final has been increasing over the years, and from figure 2 that the distance achieve by 8th place has also slightly increased. However the distance for first place, whilst fluctuating a lot, doesn t appear to be increasing or decreasing significantly. Both qualifying groups took place at the same time, with two rings situated at the same end of the stadium. Thus weather conditions were identical for both groups. Six qualifiers for the final came from each of the pools. Put Age (y) Height (cm) Weight (kg) BMI Medal Top Final All WOMEN S SHOT PUT 22.63m 21.58m* 18.30m 18.90m Table 3: Standards for the Women s Shot Put The World Record for the Women s Shot Put was set back in 1987 by Natalya Lisovskaya. The World Lead in 2012 is held by Nadzeya Ostapchuk, however she was disqualified from the London Olympics following a failed doping test (*). The next furthest mark in 2012 is held by Valerie Adams at 21.11m. The IAAF A standard was 18.30m, and the automatic qualifying mark set at 18.90m. Ostapchuk competed in the final, throwing the furthest distance and being awarded the gold medal. However, following the event she was disqualified for a doping violation, and had her medal withdrawn. She has therefore been excluded from subsequent analysis. Table 2: Summary statistics for Men s Shot Put from London 2012 Olympics It can be seen from table 2 that the oldest participant was 36, and the youngest 21. Neither of these athletes progressed past the qualifying round, however the second oldest competitor, Hoffa, and the second youngest, Storl, both medalled, thus defying any link between age and performance in this event. The average age of competitors did not change significantly between those who medalled versus top 8 versus finalists versus competitors. The story is similar for both the link between height and performance, and Body Mass Index (BMI) and performance. The shortest competitor, Hoffa at 1.80cm, and the second tallest competitor, Majewski at 2.04cm, both secured medals. Hoffa also had the highest BMI of all competitors at 45.37, and Storl one of the lowest at The only apparent trend is the average weight of competitors increasing from kg for all competitors, to kg for the finalists, for the top 8 and 137kg for the medallists. Only two competitors in the whole of the competition recorded a personal best (PB) at the Olympics, one of whom was Storl(Outdoor best). Furthermore, only 6 athletes recorded seasons best (SB), two of these coming from the medallists. Being able to produce your best performance on the right day is of paramount importance, a trait that was displayed by the gold and silver medallists. Figure 3: Qualifying for Women s Shot Put final at past Figure 4: Distance for 1st and 8th position in past 4 5

4 Five athletes (six including Ostapchuk) met the automatic qualifying marks, with all three doing so in their first two Puts. The Gold medal was eventually rewarded to Valerie Adams with her 20.70m throw, Silver went to Evgeniia Kolodko with and Bronze to Lijiao Gong with 20.22m. It took a distance of to make the final, a mark which has been gradually increasing over the past 15 years (figure 3). The winning distance is fairly consistent with the past 20 years, with 8th position at 19.00m also consistent with past World and Olympic Championships (figure 4). As with the Men, both qualifying groups took place at the same time, in the two rings situated at the same end of the stadium. Thus weather conditions were identical for both groups. Five of the qualifiers for the final came from Group A (one of whom was Ostapchuck, later disqualified), and seven from Group B. Put Age (y) Height (cm) Weight (kg) BMI Medal Top Final All Table 4: Summary statistics for Women s Shot Put from London 2012 Olympics The average age of competitors decreases slightly as you go from competitors to finalists to top 8 and medallists. The average age of female medallists at 24 is also noticeably younger than the average age of their male counterparts, at years. The oldest female medallist was just 27 years of age, in comparison to the oldest competitor who was 36 years old. The tallest and heaviest competitor was Adams, the ultimate champion. However, the shortest athlete of the finalists, Gong, and the lightest athlete of the finalists, Kolodko, both medalled. Thus once again there does not appear to be an immediate link between height and performance, or weight and performance. The BMI of the medallists also ranged from , suggesting no obvious correlation between BMI and performance. As with the Men s competition, there was few SB or PBs. Only seven competitors produced SBs at the Olympics, five of which were PBs. Two of the SBs and one of the PBs were produced by the medallists, further highlighting the importance of being able to produce your best performance when it matters most. MEN S HAMMER THROW 86.74m 82.81m 78.00m 78.00m Table 5: Standards for the Men s Hammer Throw The Men s hammer World Record was set by Yuriy Sedykh back in The 2012 World Lead is held at 82.21m by Ivan Tikhon. Both the IAAF A standard and the automatic qualifying mark were set at 78.00m. Only three athletes met the automatic qualifying mark, and these were the eventual medallists. The competition was won by Krisztian Pars with 80.59m, from Primoz Kozmus in 79.36m and Koji Murofushi in 78.81m. Ten of the 12 qualifiers for the final came from Group A. Group A took place first, at 11:20am, with Group B following in the same circle at 1:00pm. It took just 74.69m to make the final, and 76.07m to make the top 8. Mark Age (y) Height (cm) Weight (kg) BMI Medal Top Final All Table 6: Summary statistics for Men s Hammer Throw, London 2012 Olympics The average age of the medallists was higher than the average of the top 8, which in turn was higher than the average of the finalists, which itself was higher than the average of the competitors. Having said that, the oldest competitor, at 46 years of age, did not progress out of the qualifying, indicating that it is not simply a case of the older the better! The medallists were all between 30 and 37 years. The average height of competitors was between 186 and 188m across all categories, with a relatively small total range of 16cm. The average BMI did not vary much across the categories, however the range for medallists, from , was considerably smaller than for all competitors, at No competitors recorded a PB at the Olympics, and only 3 produced SBs, two of whom were medallists. Again this reiterates the rewards on offer for being able to produce your best performance at the most important competition of the year. Tikhon, who leads the 2012 World Rankings with 82.81, did not start in the qualifying round. 6 7

5 WOMEN S HAMMER THROW 79.42m 78.69m 71.50m 73.00m Table 7: Standards for the Women s Hammer Throw Betty Heidler holds the only World Record in the to have been set in the last two decades, setting the Women s hammer record at 79.42m in This is largely due to the fact that the Women s hammer has only been ratified by the IAAF since The 2012 world lead is held by Aksana Menkova with 78.69m. The IAAF A standard was set at 71.50m, and the automatic qualifying distance for the final at 73.00m. Eight athletes threw the automatic qualifying standard for the final, four from each group. Of the remaining finalists, one was from Group A and three from Group B (held at 10:00am and 11:40am respectively). MEN S DISCUS THROW 74.08m 70.66m 65.00m 65.00m Table9: Standards for the Men s Discus Throw Jurgen Schult holds the Men s discus World Record with a throw of 74.08m from Robert Harting leads the 2012 lists with 70.66m. Both the IAAF A standard and the automatic qualifying mark for the final were set at 65.00m. Six men threw the automatic qualifying distance. As with the Hammer, Group A threw first with Group B following in the same circle later in the morning (10:00am and 11:35am respectively). The twelve places in the final were made up of six athletes from each group. The competition was won by Tatyana Lysenko with a throw of 78.18m, from Anita Wlodarczyk with 77.60, and Betty Heidler in bronze with It took a distance of 70.48m to make the final, and to make the top 8. Mark Age (y) Height (cm) Weight (kg) BMI Medal Top Final All Figure 5: Qualifying for Men s Discus final at past Table 8: Summary statistics for Women s Hammer Throw, London 2012 Olympics None of the data categories above show a clear link with performance. Although the medallists were all 27 and 28, their height ranged from cm, weight from 81-94kg, and BMI from These ranges increased slightly as you go down performance level, but the averages remain fairly constant. There were just 4 SBs recorded, two of which were PBs. These all came from athletes who made it to the final, with one of the SB being by Wlodarczyk the silver medallist. Figure 6: Distance for 1st and 8th position in past 8 9

6 The competition was won by Robert Harting with a throw of 68.27m, from Ehsan Hadadi in second with 68.18m, and Gerd Kanter in third with 68.03m. It took 63.55m to make the final, (figure 5) and 64.79m to make the top 8, representing one of the highest level Men s Discus competitions in history. Mid-way through the final it began to rain. Mark Age (y) Height (cm) Weight (kg) BMI Medal Top Final All Table10: Summary statistics for Men s Discus Throw, London 2012 Olympics Whilst the average age of competitors across the groups did not change significantly, the minimum age rises from 19 for all competitors, to 20 for finalists, 25 for top 8 finishers and 27 for a medal. Furthermore, the oldest competitor, Virgilijus Alekna at 40 years of age, finished just out of the medals in 4th. This would suggest that Discus Throwers continue to develop as they mature into their late twenties and thirties. The medallists were all over 196cm tall, with the second tallest competitor, Harting, the eventual winner. However the tallest competitor at 2.07 did not progress beyond the qualifying rounds. The average weight gradually increased throughout the groups as performance level increased, however with the tallest average group also being the medallists, BMI was not indicative of performance level. WOMEN S DISCUS THROW 76.80m 70.69m 62.00m 63.00m Table 11: Standards for the Women s Discus Throw Set in 1988, the Women s discus World Record is held by Gabriele Reinsch with a throw of 76.80m. Darya Pishchalnikova holds the top mark of 2012 with 70.69m. The IAAF entry standard was 62.00m and the automatic qualifying for the final set at 63.00m. Eight athletes recorded the automatic qualification for the final. This included all three medallists, with the Gold Medallist securing it on her first attempt. Overall, 7 athletes came from Group A and 5 from Group B (held at 7:10pm and 8:35pm respectively). Figure 7: Qualifying for Women s Discus final at past No competitors threw a PB during the Olympics, and only one, Gerd Kanter the bronze medallist, produced an SB. There were 11 competitors in the field with PBs in excess of what was required to medal. Figure 8: Distance for 1st and 8th position in past 10 11

7 The competition was won by Sandra Perkovic with 69.11m, from Darya Pishchalnikova in 67.56m and Yanfeng Li in 67.22m. It took to make the final, up from recent years, back near what was required in the 90s (figure 7). It was a similar story for the winning distance. However, the 63.01m required to make the top 8 is similar to the average of the last 30 years. Mark Age (y) Height (cm) Weight (kg) BMI Medal Top Final All There does not appear to be an obvious link between age and performance, with a range of 11 years across those in the top 8 and medal positions. Similarly, the range between the tallest and shortest competitors only decreases slightly as you go up through the groups. The third tallest and fourth shortest women in the competition both medalled. The average weight increases slightly as you go up through the groups; however there was still a range of 25kg between Perkovic and Pishchalnikova, with the lighter of the two being the one who threw furthest in the competition. BMI also ranges a lot, with no clear relationship between it and performance level. Five women through an SB at the Olympics, but only one of these threw a PB. This was Perkovic, the winner. ACROSS EVENT COMPARISONS Men MSP MDT MHT Table 13: Comparison of average data from the Men s Shot Put, Discus and Hammer Table 13 shows the average age, height, weight and BMI of the medallists, and of all competitors, in the Shot, Discus and Hammer. The medallists in the hammer thrower were on average 4 years older than the medallists in both the shot and discus. When taking all competitors into account, the hammer throwers were still oldest, but only by a little over one year. At both medal and all competitor level, the discus throwers were the tallest, followed by the shot putters and finally the hammer throwers. Also at both levels, the shot putters were the heaviest, followed by the discus throwers and then hammer throwers. The combined result of which means that the BMI of the shot putters was the highest by a long way, with the discus throwers having only a slightly higher BMI than the hammer throwers. Women WSP WDT WHT Table 14: Comparison of average data from the Women s Shot Put, Discus and Hammer It is evident from table 14, that on average, the medallists in the women s shot put were older (24) than the discus and hammer throwers, who were a similar age (27.33 and respectively). When looking at the age of all participants, the average age of the shot putters increased (26.94) while that of the hammer throwers decreased (26.16)

8 The average height of the shot put and discus throw medallists were similar at around 183cm, slightly taller than the hammer throwers at just over 179cm. When taking into account all competitors, the discus throwers were on average tallest, followed by the shot putters and then hammer throwers. At both medal and all competitor level, the shot putters were heaviest, followed by the discus throwers and then hammer throwers. The BMI for the shot put medallists was highest, followed by the discus throwers and then hammer throwers. However at the competitor level, the hammer throwers and discus throwers both average a similar BMI. ACROSS GENDER COMPARISONS Shot Put MSP WSP Table 15: Comparison of Male and Female shot putters The male shot putters were older than the females by an average of 4.6 years at the medal level, and 1.3 years at the competitor level. Unsurprisingly the men were taller and heavier than the women. However their BMI was also 5 points higher at both the medal and competitor level. This is likely due to the fact that the shot the males put is 7.26kg, compared to 4kg for the women. Discus MSP WDT Table 16: Comparison of Male and Female discus throwers As with the shot put, the men were on average older, however only by 1.7 years at the medal level and 1 year at the competitor level. Once again the men were taller and heavier. They also had a larger BMI, but by a smaller margin than in the shot put. The male medallists had a BMI 0.4 higher than the females, and the competitors 2.8 higher. Again the larger BMI is likely to be due to a larger implement weight, 2kg and 1kg for men and women respectively. As 2kg is still relatively light, there is perhaps less need for a significantly larger amount of muscle mass. Hammer MHT WHT Table 17: Comparison of Male and Female hammer throwers 14 15

9 Consistent with both the shot put and discus, the male hammer throwers were older, taller, heavier and with a larger BMI than the females. Difference in BMI was larger than the difference in the discus, but smaller than the difference in the shot. The weight of the hammer is the same as the shot, i.e. 7.26kg for men and 4kg for women. Thus a larger difference in BMI is likely due to implement weight, but lower than the difference in shot as the hammer is considered a more technical event