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ROMANIAN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLISTS' AGE, GENDER,
TYPE OF EXERCISE AND BACKGROUND GENERAL REVIEWING
(1952 – 2000)
CP III, drd. MARIA –DENISA TALABAN, asistent cercetare BOGDAN MITA,
CP III LETITIA MICLESCU
National Institute for Sport Research
Key words: Olympic Gold Medallists' Age, Gender, Type of Exercise, Urban Background
Cuvinte cheie: medaliati olimpici, varsta, gen, tip de exercitiu, provenienta urbana
Introduction
Initiated in 1896 as a revival of the ancient Greeks' Olympics, the modern Olympic Games underwent along time an evolution which translated into an increase in the number of participant countries, from 14 at the first edition, in 1896, to 200 at the latest – the XXIV-th – in the year 2000, as well as into a diversification of the sports events, which also grew from 43 to 200, respectively. Over 104 years of existence, the modern Olympic Games suffered radical changes, such as the ones determined by the inclusion in competition of the women and of the professional athletes. Moreover, the recent economic-financial dimension of Olympics made of it a central component of the post-modern world. From the complex pictured offered by the Olympic phenomenon we are going to analyze the age, gender, type of exercise and background of the athletes' population who make up our Olympic elite, represented by the Olympic champions continuously promoted by Romania since the 15th edition of the Games, from Helsinki, in 1952.
Relative to the age when maximal physical performances are reached, it is known that the motor qualities are trainable along the entire life, although they achieve their peak development at a certain age, usually sometime in youth. Therefore, the proper age for achieving maximal sports performances was studied with great interest. An important such study is the one telling about the average age of the Olympic gold medalists from track and field and swimming during the period 1896-1980, establishing that in these sports, for both sexes, the average age is placed within the third decade of the chronological age, without any tendency determined by gender, but by the effort type and duration (Schulz, Curnow 1988). On the other hand, in the running events the average age grows with the distance, while in female swimming events, the reverse is equally true – the average age decreases as against distance (Conzelman, A.).
On the other hand, it was demonstrated with the non-athlete population that the development of certain motor qualities (flexibility, maximum strength, explosion power etc.) occurs at a lower chronological age with female subjects as compared to the male ones (Viru, A., Smirnova,T., Laeveots L., Karelson K.). We are interested then to analyze the age characteristics of our champions, in order to see which are their particulars from this point of view.
Knowing that sport represents a socio-cultural activity where the dissimilarities between the sexes are strongly built up on and interpreted, the gender-related issues have been amply discussed under various aspects, especially from a sociological perspective (Hargreaves J., 1986, 1992; Duncan C., 1990). Women's admission in the Olympic sport started with the 1900 edition of the Games, perpetually under the mark of the current ideologies of the time (Therberge N.). Although the male participation continues to be numerically superior to the feminine one, the quantitative ratios between the sexes have changes drastically, evolving from a ratio of 681: 4, in 1904, to one of 6,900: 4,100, in 2000. (9). Also, the number of women's events has increased continuously from one edition to another until they reached 40% at the Olympic Games from Sydney. We consider, therefore, that a quantitative gender analysis of the excellence in sport is necessary in the perspective of future investigations on the evolution of gender ratios in the Romanian Olympic sport. For type of exercise analyse we used the classification in non cyclic, cyclic, discontinuous and other types of effort.
As for the geographical distribution of the champions across the country, we have evidence from extended studies of populational anthropology, carried out on communities with the same genetic base, which show that the inhabitants of certain regions of our country present specific metabolic features, favorable to engaging in aerobic sports (hemoglobin and serum triglycerides above the average value with the Romanian population) (Istrate M., 1995).
Methods
The methods employed are related to the statistical analysis of the existing data on the Romanian Olympic champions in the summer Olympic competitions. For the analysis on sport disciplines, we used the classification of the summer Olympic sports in 12 branch groups: combat sports, athletics, swimming, nautical sports, shooting, cycling, gymnastics, weightlifting, return games, sports games, riding and combined sports (Spitz I., Ebeling R., 2001). Also, for age-related aspects we used a classification of sports according to the type of physical exercise, cyclic or non-cyclic. As for the background, we considered the urban or rural location of the birth place, as well as in any of the four historical regions of our country.
Results
Romania was present in the Olympic Games starting with their second edition, from Paris, in 1900, when only a single Romanian athlete participated in the skeet shooting competition. As a matter of fact, shooting has become a traditional sport with the Romanian Olympians, which produced 5 gold medals over the last 50 years, all won over by male participants. Women's participation begins with the Olympic Games from Amsterdam, in 1928, when we were represented by two athletes in the discus throwing and in high jump events. The participation of the Romanian athletes in the Olympic Games is shown in Figure 1. It is obvious that the male participation has always been larger, except for the 1988 OG, when the male and the female participants were equal in number.
The first gold medal was conquered in 1952, in shooting (air-borne gun), by a male participant. Women got their first Olympic title in 1960, in track and field (high-jumping). The sports disciplines that brought over medals over the years were 7: combat sports, athletics, swimming, nautical sports, shooting, gymnastics and weightlifting. The sports crowned with Olympic titles are shown in Figure 2. It is noticeable a concentration in the number of medals in nautical sports and gymnastics.
The average age of the Olympic champions is presented in Figure 3, i.e. 25,63.7 ys for men and 24,75.8 for women. Given the diversity of the sports events from one edition of the Games to another, setting an age trend is not, however, possible.
The male distribution according to age is less Gausian with the most medalists of 25 1 ys. moving on the left, towards lower age (Figure 4).
The female distribution according to age is a Gaussian one with the medalist of (24,7) years and a maximum of count in the range of 25 1ys.
The number of events and the medalists' age-related distribution into age groups are presented in Figures 6. The average age is slightly higher with men 25,6 3,8 ys than with women 24,75,8 ys which back-up the observations made by other authors, made on various champions groups. While studying the age of the track and field Olympic champions, Conzelman (1998) found out that in most events men overpass women in age. To note that normal girls population develop their motor abilities earlier than boys, when reaching top performance their average age is slightly older than the latter. The high value of our female rowers' age being compensated by the low values presented by the female gymnasts, the sports life span is not an issue as related to the average age of our subjects. It is also noticeable that the Romanian champions' chronological age interval is a very large one, extending between 15 - 36 years, the age with the greatest number of medalists being of 25-30 years (men and women). Setting the lower age-limit in the second decade of life is determined first of all by the sports competition rules - in our case, women's sports gymnastics. As for the up-level age, this is not limited by any regulation and is related exclusively to the length of the sports life span. From the total of 112 Olympic titles, twenty medalists got their Olympic title in the fourth decade of life (14,3% %), of which 4,5% were males and 9,8% were females.
The count and distribution tables of olympic gold medalists in relation with the gender participation is a very interesting one, proving that female athletes have a better ratio participation/no. of medalists, mainly in the cyclic type of exercise. As the gender participation gap trends to zero, the gold winners balance clives in the favor of female athletes, especially in the both extremes of the age group scale.
For the cyclic sports with a dominant aerobic component, the optimal age for achieving the Olympic performance is 24,89 years old with men and 26,94 years old with women, showing that the span of time necessary to develop endurance is longer as compared with other motor qualities (Figure 7- 8).
The Olympic Games witch most medals were gained are those from 1984 characterized by cyclic exercise in witch women gained an impressive number of medals in cyclic sports with 6 gold medals and 19 gold medalists (women).
As regards the gender distribution of the champions, to notice that in spite of their more numerous participations, the men represent 33,9 %, and the women 66,1.%. One of the possible causes of this gender performance distribution may be the higher competition in the male Olympic sports, where the number of participants is greater as compared to the female ones.
The number of multiple champions is presented in Table no.1 and the champions' Olympic experience is illustrated in Table no. 2, with the picture of performance longevity dominated by women.
Table 1. Number of multiple champions
|
Gold medals |
Male |
Female |
|
5 |
|
1 |
|
4 |
1 |
2 |
|
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
2 |
2 |
13 |
|
1 |
31 |
40 |
Table 2. Number of multiple Olympic editions champions
|
OG Editions |
Male |
Female |
|
4 |
1 |
1 |
|
3 |
- |
- |
|
2 |
1 |
11 |
The background of the Olympic champions, established according to the place of birth, is illustrated in Figures 11; 31,2% male champions and 47,3% female ones originate from the urban environment, the others to make up the difference coming from the rural environment. It is impressive the large number of champions in kayak-canoe originating from Dobrogea, i.e. the Danube Delta to be more precise, a phenomenon related to the ethno-motor skills specific to this area, as well as to certain biological characteristics determined by the genetic base and the eating habits of the natives who pooled for the athletes' selection.(Figure 11-13).
Conclusions
The Romanian participation in the Olympic Movement starts early, in 1900, but the first gold medals are conquered in the '50s, during a political regime that strongly ideologized high-performance sport. Women's debut in the Olympic Games, as well as their getting the first gold medal lagged behind men's participation and gettting their first Olympic title. This gender-related disparity reflects, on one hand, a general phenomenon of modern Olympics and, on the other hand, the systematic policy of promoting women in sports applied in our country and of Soviet inspiration.
The male participation is larger than the female one. In Romania, excellence sports are the nautical sports (kayak-canoe with men, rowing with women) and sports gymnastics (girls).
The age interval for reaching top performances is between 15-36 years old and is determined by the competition rules and the athletes' performance longevity.
The average age for reaching maximal sports performance is 25,6 3.7 years with men and 24,7 5.8 years with women. Out of the total number of champions, the men represent 33,9% and the women 66,1%. Most of the male Olympic champions originate from the Danube environment and the historical province Muntenia, while most of the female Olympic champions originate from the environment and the historical province of Moldavia.
Sports witch gave most medals are those characterized by a cyclic type of exercise, the gender distribution being dominated by women. Mence the preoccupation of researching in depth the construction of sports performance in the cyclic sports.
In order to eliminate the influence of the factors pertaining of inevitable unpredictable elements in the sports competitions, the analysis of the Romanian participation in the Olympic Games needs to be extended with a study on the athletes classified on the first six places in the standings.
Abstract
Atingerea performantelor olimpice de varf reprezinta o preocupare majora a oricarei politici cu privire la sport. Cresterea continua a numarului de participanti ca si a numarului de probe olimpice face ca urcarea pe podiumul olimpic sa fie tot mai dificila, necesitand o buna cunoastere a factorilor de obtinere ai excelentei sportive. Cercetarea noastra isi propune sa se concentreze asupra catorva aspecte legate de varsta, sexul si provenienta campionilor olimpici romani, incepand cu 1952 cand am obtinut prima medalie de aur, pana in 2000, cand in clasamentul general pe medalii ne-am situat pe locul 11.Urmand tendinta generala a JO moderne, participarea masculina atat ca efective, cat si ca diversitate a probelor sportive a fost mai mare decat cea feminina. Sporturile in care am obtinut medalii de aur sunt: atletism, box, canotaj, kaiac-canoe, gimnastica, haltere, inot, lupte, scrima si tir. Numarul cel mai mare de medalii a fost obtinut in ramura sporturilor nautice (canotaj, kaiac-canoe). Numarul titlurilor olimpice este de 112, dintre care 66,1% apartin fetelor, iar restul de 33,9 % baietilor. Varsta medie a medaliatilor cu aur este de 25,6 3,6 ani, iar a medaliatelor de 24,7 5,8 ani. Olimpicii romani se situeaza in intervalul de varsta 15-36 de ani. Longevitatea sportiva este mai mare in cazul fetelor. Cele mai numeroase medalii au fost obtinute in sporturile caracterizate de exercitii ciclice cu dominanta aeroba. Provenienta urbana a detinatorilor titlurilor olimpice este 11; 31,2 % pentru barbati si de 47,3% pentru femei. Cea mai mare parte a baietilor medaliati cu aur in sporturi nautice provin din Delta Dunarii, o regiune in care vaslitul reprezinta ocupatia de baza a locuitorilor si unde fondul genetic, precum si alimentatia au favorizat dezvoltarea unor calitati metabolice specifice practicarii sporturilor cu dominanta aeroba.
Abstract
Reaching top Olympic performances is a major concern for all policies of sport. Continual growth in the number of participants, as well as of the Olympic female events makes it more difficult to get on the Olympic honor stand and requires an ever better knowledge of the determining factors in acquiring sports excellence. Our research will be focused on several aspects related to age, gender, type of exercise and background of the Romanian Olympic champions, starting from 1952, when the first Olympic gold medal was won, and until 2000 when the general standing on medals placed us on the 11th position. Following the general tradition in the modern Olympic Games, the Romanian male participation and the diversity of their sports events was greater than the one of their female counterparts. The sports we won gold medals in were: combat sports, athletics, swimming, nautical sports, shooting, cycling, gymnastics, weightlifting, return games, sports games, riding and combined sports. The largest number of medals was conquered in nautical sports, i. e., rowing and kayak-canoeing. Along the time we had 112 Olympic titles of which 66.07% belong to females and the other 33,92% to males. The average age of the male gold medalists is 25,6 3,6 ys, and of the female medalists is 24,7 5,8 ys. Romanian champions are included in the age intervals 15 – 36 years old. Olympic participation is longer with the women. The most numerous medals were gained in sports with cyclic type of exercise (rowing, kaiac-canoeing, running etc). For men the urban background is 31,2% and for women are 47,3 %. Most of the gold medalists in the nautical sports originate from the Danube, an area where rowing is the natives' everyday occupation.
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