Knechtle Beat, Villiger Elias, Weiss Katja, Valero David, Rosemann Thomas, Nikolaidis Pantelis T, Vancini Rodrigo Luiz, Andrade Marilia Santos, Thuany Mabliny
Medbase St. Gallen Am Vadianplatz, Vadianstrasse 26, 9001, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 6;15(1):1028. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-84008-9.
It is well known that elite athletes of specific ethnicities and/or nationalities dominate certain sports disciplines (e.g., East Africans in marathon running). However, we do not know the nationalities of the fastest non-professional IRONMAN triathletes. Therefore, this study intended to identify the fastest athletes by country of origin competing in IRONMAN triathlon events, focusing on non-professional age group triathletes. Data from all IRONMAN age group athletes competing worldwide between 2002 and 2022 in all official IRONMAN races were collected. Sex, age group, country of origin of the athletes, location and year of the event, split times, overall race times, and transition times were obtained. Additionally, the dataset was augmented with specific data (i.e. event characteristics such as temperatures for water and air and course characteristics for all three split disciplines) related to the different race locations. We limited the analysis to the top 150 countries by participation (i.e. countries with at least 13 successful finishers records in the sample). A total of 677,320 records of IRONMAN age group triathletes originating from 150 different countries and participating in 443 races over 65 different locations were analyzed. European countries such as Germany, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway, Czechia, Estonia, and Slovenia have the fastest IRONMAN age group athletes. IRONMAN Hawaii, IRONMAN Vitoria-Gasteiz and IRONMAN Hamburg are the fastest races. Hilly running and cycling race courses led to slower race times, while flat surfaces, rolling cycling and ocean swimming led to faster race times. Optimal water temperatures were found at 23-25 °C and optimal air temperature ranged between 19-21 and 25-28 °C. The fastest IRONMAN age group triathletes from European countries such as Germany, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway, Czechia, Estonia, and Slovenia. With the presented results for optimal air and water temperatures and description of the optimal cycling and running course characteristics, IRONMAN age group athletes might be able to select an IRONMAN race with the best conditions in order to achieve a fast IRONMAN race time.
众所周知，特定种族和/或国籍的精英运动员在某些体育项目中占据主导地位（例如，马拉松赛跑中的东非人）。然而，我们并不清楚非职业铁人三项运动员的国籍。因此，本研究旨在按原籍国确定参加铁人三项赛事的最快运动员，重点关注非职业年龄组铁人三项运动员。收集了2002年至2022年期间在全球所有官方铁人三项比赛中参赛的所有铁人三项年龄组运动员的数据。获取了运动员的性别、年龄组、原籍国、赛事地点和年份、分段时间、总比赛时间以及转换时间。此外，数据集还增加了与不同比赛地点相关的特定数据（即水温和气温等赛事特征以及所有三个分段项目的赛道特征）。我们将分析限制在参赛人数排名前150的国家（即样本中至少有13名完赛记录的国家）。总共分析了来自150个不同国家、参加65个不同地点443场比赛的677320条铁人三项年龄组运动员记录。德国、奥地利、丹麦、比利时、瑞士、挪威、捷克、爱沙尼亚和斯洛文尼亚等欧洲国家拥有最快的铁人三项年龄组运动员。夏威夷铁人三项赛、维多利亚 - 加斯泰兹铁人三项赛和汉堡铁人三项赛是最快的赛事。丘陵地形的跑步和自行车赛道导致比赛时间较慢，而平坦路面、起伏的自行车赛道和海洋游泳则导致比赛时间较快。最佳水温为23 - 25°C，最佳气温范围在19 - 21°C和25 - 28°C之间。来自德国、奥地利、丹麦、比利时、瑞士、挪威、捷克、爱沙尼亚和斯洛文尼亚等欧洲国家的是最快的铁人三项年龄组运动员。根据所呈现的最佳气温和水温结果以及对最佳自行车和跑步赛道特征的描述，铁人三项年龄组运动员或许能够选择条件最佳的铁人三项比赛，以获得较快的铁人三项比赛成绩。
