Athletic Performance Comparison Across the Borders of Event, Gender, and Age

Abstract

The work in this document addressed the need of parents, school teachers, and athletic coaches to be able to assess the level of performance and to compare performances of individual athletes of either gender and in any age group. This was achieved by creating formulas for the following areas in track and field athletics: (1) Correctly set base standards for all events from the results of 5-year weighted average performances. (2) Use the base standards to determine comparative standards for all events in all age groups. (3) Define a function to compare male and female performances in all events. (4) For all events, generate tables with a range from 0 to 1,000 as a comparative measurement. These formulas were created using data from international and national meetings. Different case studies were used for each of the areas, and the results were evaluated using the data. In all four areas, it was possible to define hybrid functions with a confidence factor better than 99 %. The final performance tables can be updated during revision periods (every 2–4 years) by using the national results for the last 5 years. These revisions will be required as implements, tracks, and training methods that change with time and this will then in turn influence the performances. This is evident from the continuous improvement of records in all events. As this is a new and unique formulation for measuring performances at junior level in world athletics, it can be used as a basis for future improvements in the field of comparative measurement for athletics.