We have discovered an interesting study on Scientific Reports investigating participation and performance trends in short-, medium-, and long-distance duathlon across various age groups over several decades. The findings revealed interesting patterns related to age and performance in duathlon.

One key observation of the study was the decline in performance with increasing age in short-distance duathlon. The decline became statistically significant from the age group of 20-24 years. In medium- and long-distance duathlon, performance remained relatively stable until a specific age group. The decline in performance was first observed in the running legs, followed by the cycling leg in medium-distance duathlon, and in the first run leg in long-distance duathlon. Previous studies on multi-discipline sports have also noted a higher age-related performance decline in running compared to cycling.

Furthermore, average speeds differed among age groups and race distances. Men exhibited significantly different average speeds across all three distances up to a certain age group, indicating changes in performance with age. In contrast, women showed slower speeds only in long-distance duathlon compared to the other distances up to a specific age group. These differences suggest that there is room for performance improvement for women, particularly in short-distance duathlon.

More info Scientific Reports