Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Human Development Index and the frequency of nations in Athletics World Rankings

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sport Sciences for Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

The influence of socioeconomic factors in the achievement of sport success is still a matter of debate. Due to the popularity and low-cost practice, analyses of the Athletics World Ranking (AWR) may provide valuable information. Therefore, we investigated the frequency of different socioeconomic status in the AWR for two events (100 m and 10 k) in three categories: Junior, Elite Professionals and Masters.

Method

Data of 5,011 athletes from 99 nationalities were obtained from the official websites of International Association of Athletics Federations, and World Masters Rankings in the years of 2006–2016. The Human Development Index (HDI) for each nationality was used as a marker of socioeconomic status.

Results

An HDI × age group association was observed (χ2 = 0.001, p = 0.001, φC = 0.322), where the analysis of frequency rate demonstrated a high prevalence of very elevated and elevated HDI in the AWR for the 100 m. For the endurance 10 k race analysis, the HDI × age group association was also observed, with a high prevalence of moderate and low HDI in Junior and Professionals. Regarding the Masters, the prevalence of moderate and low HDI is almost zero. In addition, multiple linear regressions indicate that the HDI, gross domestic product per capita (GDP/capita) and population can predict the frequency of a country in athletics ranking.

Conclusions

There is a high prevalence of elevated and very elevated HDI nationalities in the AWR in sprint races in all age groups. For endurance races, Junior and Professionals had a great prevalence of low/moderate HDI, and Masters are dominated by very elevated HDI. A nation’s frequency in the World Masters Ranking could be indicative of HDI, since an association was found among them.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Sharma H, Sharma D (2015) Human development index—revisited: integration of human values. J Hum Values 21(1):23–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Costa ITD, Cardoso FDSL, Garganta JO (2013) Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano e a Data de Nascimento podem condicionar a ascensão de jogadores de Futebol ao alto nível de rendimento. Motriz 19(1):34–35

    Google Scholar 

  3. Eime RM, Harvey J, Charity MJ, Casey M, Westerbeek H, Payne WR (2017) The relationship of sport participation to provision of sports facilities and socioeconomic status: a geographical analysis. Aust NZ J Public Health 41(3):248–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Zenha V, Resende R, Gomes AR (2009) Desporto de alto rendimento e sucesso escolar: Análise e estudo de factores influentes no seu êxito. Editorial y Centro de Formación Alto Rendimiento 978-84-613-1659-5

  5. Starkes JL, Ericsson KA (2003) Expert performance in sports: advances in research on sport expertise. Human Kinetics, pp 251–272

  6. Bloom BS, Sosniak LA (1985) Developing talent in young people. Ballantine Books, New York, pp 507–549

    Google Scholar 

  7. Côté J, Macdonald DJ, Baker J, Abernethy B (2006) When “where” is more important than “when”: Birthplace and birthdate effects on the achievement of sporting expertise. J Sports Sci 24(10):1065–1073

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Lang JJ, Tremblay MS, Léger L, Olds T, Tomkinson GR (2018) International variability in 20 m shuttle run performance in children and youth: who are the fittest from a 50-country comparison? A systematic literature review with pooling of aggregate results. Br J Sports Med 52(4):276–276

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Kyttä M (2002) Affordances of children’s environments in the context of cities, small towns, suburbs and rural villages in Finland and Belarus. J Environ Psychol 22(1–2):109–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Bale J, Sang J (2013) Kenyan running: Movement culture, geography and global change. Routledge, Abingdon

    Book  Google Scholar 

  11. Noland RC, Thyfault JP, Henes ST, Whitfield BR, Woodlief TL, Evans JR, Dohm GL (2007) Artificial selection for high-capacity endurance running is protective against high-fat diet-induced insulin resistance. Am J Physiol-Endocrinol Metab 293(1):E31–E41

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Wisløff U, Najjar SM, Ellingsen Ø, Haram PM, Swoap S, Al-Share Q, … Britton SL (2005) Cardiovascular risk factors emerge after artificial selection for low aerobic capacity. Science 307(5708):418–420

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. UNDP (2015) 2014 Human Development Report

  14. Morin P, Lebel A, Robitaille É, Bisset S (2016) Socioeconomic factors influence physical activity and sport in Quebec schools. J Sch Health 86(11):841–851

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Federico B, Falese L, Marandola D, Capelli G (2013) Socioeconomic differences in sport and physical activity among Italian adults. J Sports Sci 31(4):451–458

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Jayantha K, Ubayachandra EG (2015) Going for gold medals: factors affecting Olympic performance. Int J Sci Res Publ 5(6):2250–3153

    Google Scholar 

  17. Beyer JM, Hannah DR (2000) The cultural significance of athletics in US higher education. J Sport Manag 14(2):105–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Chu D (1982) The American conception of higher education and the formal incorporation of intercollegiate sport. Quest 34(1):53–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Korhonen MT, Haverinen M, Degens H (2014) 16 Training and nutritional needs. In: Nutrition and performance in masters athletes. CRC Press, pp.291–322

  20. Korhonen MT, Cristea A, Alén M, Hakkinen K, Sipila S, Mero A, Suominen H (2006) Aging, muscle fiber type, and contractile function in sprint-trained athletes. J Appl Physiol 101(3):906–917

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Saltin B, Larsen H, Terrados N, Bangsbo J, Bak T, Kim CK, Rolf CJ (1995) Aerobic exercise capacity at sea level and at altitude in Kenyan boys, junior and senior runners compared with Scandinavian runners. Scand J Med Sci Sports 5(4):209–221

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Pitsiladis YP, Onywera VO, Geogiades E, O’connell W, Boit MK (2004) The dominance of Kenyans in distance running. Equine Comp Exercise Physiol 1(4):285–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Vancini RL, Pesquero JB, Fachina RJ, dos Santos Andrade M, Borin JP, Montagner PC, de Lira CAB (2014) Genetic aspects of athletic performance: the African runners phenomenon. Open Access J Sports Med 5:123

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Scott RA, Moran C, Wilson RH, Goodwin WH, Pitsiladis YP (2004) Genetic influence on East African running success. Equine Comp Exercise Physiol 1(4):273–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Onywera VO, Scott RA, Boit MK, Pitsiladis YP (2006) Demographic characteristics of elite Kenyan endurance runners. J Sports Sci 24(4):415–422

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Guth LM, Roth SM (2013) Genetic influence on athletic performance. Curr Opin Pediatr 25(6):653

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. De Moor MH, Spector TD, Cherkas LF, Falchi M, Hottenga JJ, Boomsma DI, De Geus EJ (2007) Genome-wide linkage scan for athlete status in 700 British female DZ twin pairs. Twin Res Human Genet 10(6):812–820

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Silventoinen K, Magnusson PK, Tynelius P, Kaprio J, Rasmussen F (2008) Heritability of body size and muscle strength in young adulthood: a study of one million Swedish men. Genet Epidemiol 32(4):341–349

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Peeters MW, Thomis MA, Loos RJF, Derom CA, Fagard R, Claessens AL, Beunen GP (2007) Heritability of somatotype components: a multivariate analysis. Int J Obesity 31(8):1295

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Carter JL (1970) The somatotypes of athletes—a review. Hum Biol 42(4):535–569

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Conzelmann A (1993) Competitive sport in the second half of life as exemplified by track and field master athletes. Sport und Buch Strauβ, Köln, pp 128 (In German)

  32. Kusy K, Zielinski J (2015) Sprinters versus long-distance runners: how to grow old healthy. Exercise Sport Sci Rev 43(1):57–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Moghani Lankarani M, Assari S (2017) Diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and long-term risk of renal disease mortality: Racial and socioeconomic differences. J Diabetes Investig 8(4):590–599

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Hostinar CE, Ross KM, Chen E, Miller GE (2017) Early-life socioeconomic disadvantage and metabolic health disparities. Psychosom Med 79(5):514

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Nikolaidis PT, Onywera VO, Knechtle B (2017) Running performance, nationality, sex, and age in the 10-km, half-marathon, marathon, and the 100-km ultramarathon IAAF 1999–2015. J Strength Cond Res 31(8):2189–2207

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Nikolaidis P, Zingg M, Knechtle B (2017) Performance trends in age-group runners from 100 m to marathon—The World Championships from 1975 to 2015. Scand J Med Sci sports 27(12):1588–1596

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to World Masters Rankings and Mr. John Seto (main organizer), as well as the International Athletics Federation (IAAF), the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES - financial code 001), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Distrito Federal (FAP/DF).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Program in Physical Education, Catholic University of Brasilia, UCB, EPTC, QS07, LT1 s/n. Bloco G Sala 119.CEP 72030-170 Águas Claras, Taguatinga/DF, Brasília, Brazil

    Patrick Anderson Santos, Caio Victor Sousa, Samuel da Silva Aguiar, Thiago dos Santos Rosa, Lysleine Alves de Deus, Carmen Silvia Grubert Campbell, Higor Geovane de Sousa, Lucas Duarte Barbosa & Herbert Gustavo Simões

  2. Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Beat Knechtle

  3. Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Nikaia, Greece

    Pantelis Theodoros Nikolaidis

  4. Physical Education Department, Universidade Estadual de Goiás, Quirinópolis, GO, Brazil

    Marcelo Magalhães Sales

Authors
  1. Patrick Anderson Santos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Caio Victor Sousa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Samuel da Silva Aguiar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Beat Knechtle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Pantelis Theodoros Nikolaidis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Marcelo Magalhães Sales
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Thiago dos Santos Rosa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Lysleine Alves de Deus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Carmen Silvia Grubert Campbell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Higor Geovane de Sousa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Lucas Duarte Barbosa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Herbert Gustavo Simões
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Samuel da Silva Aguiar or Herbert Gustavo Simões.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Human and animal rights

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 2012 Helsinki declaration.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Santos, P.A., Sousa, C.V., da Silva Aguiar, S. et al. Human Development Index and the frequency of nations in Athletics World Rankings. Sport Sci Health 15, 393–398 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-019-00529-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-019-00529-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation