Relative age effect in Olympic basketball athletes

    F.Z. Werneck, , E.F. Coelhoa, H.Z. de Oliveira, D.B. Ribeiro Júniorb, S.P. Almasb, J.R.P. de Limab, M.O. Mattab, A.J. Figueiredo

a Sports Centre, Federal University of Ouro Preto, rua Dois, 110, Morro do Cruzeiro, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil
b Faculty of Physical Education, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil
c Faculty of Physical Education, Federal University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

Objective
To investigate the relative age effect (RAE) in Olympic basketball athletes, related to sex, continent and country.

Methods

The sample was composed of 300 athletes who have competed in the London 2012 Olympic Games. Athletes’ date of birth was split into quartiles (trimester of born). For data analysis, Chi2 test was used with the level of significance set at 5%.

Results
The RAE was not observed by the analysis for sex and continent. However, the RAE was found in French athletes (χ۲ = ۱۱٫۳۳۳; P = 0.01), with more athletes born on the second quartile. We can conclude that the RAE is not present in Olympic basketball athletes, except on those French ones.

Keywords
Relative age; Athletes; Basketball

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