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Ultra‐triathlon—Pacing, performance trends, the role of nationality, and sex differences in finishers and non‐finishers
Author(s) -
Sousa Caio Victor,
Nikolaidis Pantelis Theodoros,
Knechtle Beat
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.575
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1600-0838
pISSN - 0905-7188
DOI - 10.1111/sms.13598
Subject(s) - cycling , demography , nationality , geography , archaeology , immigration , sociology
Ultra‐triathlons are defined as triathlons longer than the traditional Ironman distance and became more popular in the last two decades; however, scarce scientific evidence of these events are available. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the trends of performance, pacing, nationality, sex differences, and rate of non‐finishers in ultra‐triathlons. Data from 1985 to 2018 were collected including Double Iron, Triple Iron, Quintuple Iron, and Deca Iron ultra‐triathlons. Different pacing patterns by event and sex were observed ( P < .05); athletes spent less %time in swimming and cycling, and more %time in running as the distance of event was longer; women spent more %time in cycling and less% time in running in Double and Triple. Performance analysis showed a negative trend over time for men and women since 1985. Switzerland, France, and Germany were the fastest nations in ultra‐triathlons. The frequency of North Americans competing in Europe was very low (<5%), whereas Europeans often competed in North America (~25%). The rate of non‐finishers between sexes was similar in all races with the exception of Deca Iron ultra‐triathlon, which was much greater (~20%) for women. Non‐finishers had slower race times in swimming and cycling splits than finishers. In conclusion, ultra‐triathletes should redistribute their energy among swimming, cycling, and running depending on their sex and distance of race. Performance in ultra‐triathlons has been decreasing in men and women over the years, but sex difference in performance remained. Europeans were the fastest ultra‐triathletes and compete in Europe and North America. Additionally, non‐finishers were slower swimmers and cyclists than finishers.