Aschmann André, Knechtle Beat, Cribari Marco, Rüst Christoph Alexander, Onywera Vincent, Rosemann Thomas, Lepers Romuald
Institute of General Practice and for Health Services Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Gesundheitszentrum St Gallen, St Gallen, Switzerland.
Open Access J Sports Med. 2013 Jul 24;4:183-92. doi: 10.2147/OAJSM.S45918. eCollection 2013.
Endurance running performance of African (AF) and non-African (NAF) athletes is investigated, with better performances seen for Africans. To date, no study has compared the age of peak performance between AF and NAF runners. The present research is an analysis of the age and running performance of top AF and NAF athletes, using the hypothesis that AF athletes were younger and faster than NAF athletes.
Age and performance of male and female AF and NAF athletes in half-marathons and marathons held in Switzerland in 2000-2010 were investigated using single and multilevel hierarchical regression analyses.
For half-marathons, male NAF runners were older than male AF runners (P = 0.02; NAF, 31.1 years ± 6.4 years versus AF, 26.2 years ± 4.9 years), and their running time was longer (P = 0.02; NAF, 65.3 minutes ± 1.7 minutes versus AF, 64.1 minutes ± 0.9 minutes). In marathons, differences between NAF and AF male runners in age (NAF, 33.0 years ± 4.8 years versus AF, 28.6 years ± 3.8 years; P < 0.01) and running time (NAF, 139.5 minutes ± 5.6 minutes versus AF, 133.3 minutes ± 2.7 minutes; P < 0.01) were more pronounced. There was no difference in age (NAF, 31.0 years ± 7.0 years versus AF, 26.7 years ± 6.0 years; P > 0.05) or running time (NAF, 75.0 minutes ± 3.7 minutes versus AF, 75.6 minutes ± 5.3 minutes; P > 0.05) between NAF and AF female half-marathoners. For marathoners, NAF women were older than AF female runners (P = 0.03; NAF, 31.6 years ± 4.8 years versus AF, 27.8 years ± 5.3 years), but their running times were similar (NAF, 162.4 minutes ± 7.2 minutes versus AF, 163.0 minutes ± 7.0 minutes; P > 0.05).
In Switzerland, the best AF male half-marathoners and marathoners were younger and faster than the NAF counterpart runners. In contrast to the results seen in men, AF and NAF female runners had similar performances. Future studies need to investigate performance and age of AF and NAF marathoners in the World Marathon Majors Series.
对非洲（AF）和非非洲（NAF）运动员的耐力跑表现进行了研究，发现非洲运动员的表现更佳。迄今为止，尚无研究比较AF和NAF跑步运动员的最佳表现年龄。本研究分析了顶级AF和NAF运动员的年龄和跑步表现，假设AF运动员比NAF运动员更年轻且速度更快。
采用单因素和多水平分层回归分析，对2000 - 2010年在瑞士举行的半程马拉松和马拉松比赛中AF和NAF男女运动员的年龄和表现进行了调查。
在半程马拉松比赛中，男性NAF跑步运动员比男性AF跑步运动员年龄更大（P = 0.02；NAF，31.1岁±6.4岁，AF，26.2岁±4.9岁），且他们的跑步时间更长（P = 0.02；NAF，65.3分钟±1.7分钟，AF，64.1分钟±0.9分钟）。在马拉松比赛中，NAF和AF男性跑步运动员在年龄（NAF，33.0岁±4.8岁，AF，28.6岁±3.8岁；P < 0.01）和跑步时间（NAF，139.5分钟±5.6分钟，AF，133.3分钟±2.7分钟；P < 0.01）上的差异更为明显。NAF和AF女性半程马拉松运动员在年龄（NAF，31.0岁±7.0岁，AF，26.7岁±6.0岁；P > 0.05）或跑步时间（NAF，75.0分钟±3.7分钟，AF，75.6分钟±5.3分钟；P > 0.05）上没有差异。对于马拉松运动员，NAF女性比AF女性跑步运动员年龄更大（P = 0.03；NAF，31.6岁±4.8岁，AF，27.8岁±5.3岁），但她们的跑步时间相似（NAF，162.4分钟±7.2分钟，AF，163.0分钟±7.0分钟；P > 0.05）。
在瑞士，最佳AF男性半程马拉松运动员和马拉松运动员比NAF相应的跑步运动员更年轻且速度更快。与男性的结果相反，AF和NAF女性跑步运动员表现相似。未来的研究需要调查世界马拉松大满贯系列赛中AF和NAF马拉松运动员的表现和年龄。
