Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR&D Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Baseline Ability Makes a Larger Contribution to Race Performance in High-School Sprinters Than Race Experience or Training Exposure.

Lynch KE, Thomas A, Gibson B. Baseline Ability Makes a Larger Contribution to Race Performance in High-School Sprinters Than Race Experience or Training Exposure. Pediatric exercise science. 2016 Nov 1; 28(4):565-571.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

PURPOSE: There has long been a debate regarding the importance of talent versus training in athletic performance. In this study we sought to quantify their relative contributions to the race performance of high-school sprinters. METHODS: Using race results from the athletic.net website, we identified high-school athletes who participated in at least one race in both 9th and 12th grade in the 100 m, 200 m or 400 m. Athletes with a record of racing before high school were excluded from the analyses. Using separate linear regression models for each event and gender, we analyzed the effect of baseline ability, race experience and training exposure on race time in the 12th grade. RESULTS: 35,909 athletes, running a total of 1,627,652 races, contributed to the final analyses. The proportion of variance (R2) in 12th grade race times accounted for by baseline ability ranged from 40% to 51% depending on the event, and was consistently higher for females than males. Race experience explained 3.6-4.4% of the variance and training exposure explained 0.8-1.7%. CONCLUSION: Although race experience and training exposure impact high-school sprinters'' performance, baseline ability is the dominant influence.





Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.