Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
Br J Sports Med. 2012 Dec;46(15):1038-43. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2012-091535. Epub 2012 Sep 12.
Owing to the separation into age groups at the first winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG), athletes differed in age by up to two years, leading to a potential relative age effect (RAE).
The purpose of this study was to define the role of the RAE in the first winter YOG with regard to sex, type of sport and performance.
The birth dates and anthropometric data of all 1021 athletes (557 male, 464 female, 14-19 years old) participating in 15 sports were analysed. A χ(2) test was used to assess the difference between the observed and expected birth distributions. ANOVA (analysis of variance) and Kruskal-Wallis analyses were used to investigate differences in anthropometrics.
The birth date distribution of the overall sample was significantly different from an equal distribution, with an over-representation of athletes born shortly after the cut-off date (χ(2)=284.7, p<0.001). A significant RAE was found in both male (χ(2)=245.1, p<0.001) and female competitors (χ(2)=74.6, p<0.001). An analysis based on the type of sport showed an RAE in all categories (strength-χ(2)=229.9, p<0.001, endurance-χ(2)=60.4, p<0.001 and technique-related sports χ(2)=25.2, p=0.001). Relatively older competitors were also over-represented among medal winners (χ(2)=47.9, p<0.001). Relatively older male competitors were significantly taller (p=0.005) and heavier (p<0.001) than younger competitors. No differences were found in female competitors.
The results suggest that relative age had a highly significant influence on participation in various sports regardless of sex. A possible strategy to reduce the RAE would be a fixed quota for each birth year within the two-year age group across events.
由于第一届冬季青年奥林匹克运动会（YOG）按年龄分组，运动员之间的年龄差距最大可达两岁，这导致了潜在的相对年龄效应（RAE）。
本研究旨在确定 RAE 在第一届冬季青年奥运会中对性别、运动类型和表现的影响。
分析了参加 15 个运动项目的 1021 名运动员（男运动员 557 名，女运动员 464 名，年龄 14-19 岁）的出生日期和人体测量数据。采用卡方检验评估观察到的和预期的出生分布之间的差异。采用方差分析（ANOVA）和 Kruskal-Wallis 分析比较人体测量学差异。
总体样本的出生日期分布与均等分布明显不同，出生于截止日期后不久的运动员人数过多（卡方=284.7，p<0.001）。在男性（卡方=245.1，p<0.001）和女性运动员（卡方=74.6，p<0.001）中均发现了显著的 RAE。基于运动类型的分析显示，所有类别均存在 RAE（力量运动-卡方=229.9，p<0.001，耐力运动-卡方=60.4，p<0.001，技术相关运动-卡方=25.2，p=0.001）。奖牌获得者中相对年龄较大的运动员也占多数（卡方=47.9，p<0.001）。相对年龄较大的男性运动员比年轻运动员更高（p=0.005）和更重（p<0.001）。女性运动员中未发现差异。
结果表明，相对年龄对不同性别参与各种运动的影响非常显著。减少 RAE 的一种可能策略是在每个两年龄组内为每个出生年份设定固定名额。
