Abstract
No studies have been found that analyzed the probabilities of high-level athletes according to gender for accessing programs that promote the professionalization of sports, and participation and success in the OG in Spain. This could explain the gender differences in these parameters and the trend towards more egalitarian data in recent years. The objective of this study was to analyze the probabilities of Spanish high-level athletes for participating and achieving sporting success in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games (OG). Data relating to a sample of 3757 high-level Spanish athletes (2398 men and 1359 women) between 2005 and 2016 were examined. The variables of gender, having obtained a scholarship from the Association of Olympic Athletes (ADO) program, training in a High Performance Center (CAR), participation and performance in the OG were analyzed. It was found that high-level female athletes were more likely than male athletes to belong to the ADO program (χ2 = 26,151; r* = 0.083; p = 0,000) and CAR (χ2 = 13,847; r* = 0.061; p = 0,000), and to qualify for an OG (χ2 = 22,838; r* = 0,078; p = 0,000), the same trend was found in the three Olympic cycles analyzed. With respect to the results in the OG, in general, no differences were found according to gender, although women were more likely to be finalists (χ2 = 4,406; r* = 0.071; p = 0,036), and more prominently in the 2016 OG (16.118; r* = 0.228; p = 0.000). The same applies to winning a medal (χ2 = 5.939; r* = 0.145; p = 0.015), more specifically bronze at the 2012 OG (χ2 = 6.215; r* = 0.149; p = 0.013). In conclusion, high-level female athletes in Spain have a higher percentage of access to high-level athlete support programs such as ADO and CAR, as well as participation in OG.
Highlights
The modern Olympic movement was originally founded on the pillars of sporting amateurism
Pierre de Coubertin, argued that the practice of sports should be dissociated from economic profit, which led to the exclusion of professional athletes from participation in the Olympic Games (OG) during the first decades of the twentieth century
It was found that while there was a greater number of men considered as high-level athletes who participated in an OG, trained at a CAR, or obtained an ADO scholarship, among the women analyzes, it was statistically more likely for them to attend an OG, train at a CAR, or obtain a scholarship from the ADO program
Summary
The modern Olympic movement was originally founded on the pillars of sporting amateurism. Pierre de Coubertin, argued that the practice of sports should be dissociated from economic profit, which led to the exclusion of professional athletes from participation in the Olympic Games (OG) during the first decades of the twentieth century. This thinking was made official in Rule 26 of the Olympic Charter [1]. It was not until 1974 when the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Lord Michael M.
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