Abstract
Although the variation of performance by nationality in endurance sports such as marathon has been well studied, little information exists so far on the role of nationality on performance in ultra-endurance sports. The aim of the present study was to review the role of nationality on cross-country skiing and ultra-endurance running. Scopus and PubMed were searched using the syntax “nationality AND (ultra-endurance OR ultra-marathon OR cross-country skiing) in 1/4/2020. This search identified 17 articles, whose references were further examined for relevant literature. It was observed that Russian athletes dominated ultra-endurance running and cross-country skiing races. It was shown that these races were in other countries, where it was assumed that only the best Russians competed. Potential explanations could be misuse of performance enhancing substances, historical, climate-geographical and psychophysiological (e.g., combination of genetic and social factors). In summary, recent studies found a dominance of Russian athletes in specific races (i.e., ‘Comrades Marathon’, ‘Vasaloppet’, and ‘Engadin Ski Marathon’) and disciplines (i.e., ultra-marathon running, cross-country skiing) over a period of several decades. Future studies are need to investigate other events and other sport disciplines to confirm this Russian dominance.
Highlights
Recent studies have shown that Russian athletes dominate specific sports disciplines such as cross-country skiing (e.g., Engadin Ski Marathon, Vasaloppet) [1,2] and long-distance running (e.g., Comrades Marathon, 100-km ultra-marathons) [3,4]
In addition to cross-country skiing, it has been observed that Russian athletes were the fastest in long-distance running races such as the ‘Comrades Marathon’ held in South Africa [3] and in 100-km ultra-marathon running races [16] (Table 2)
In 100-km ultra-marathon running, the Russians, apart from the Japanese, were the most numerous athletes in the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) since the IAAF has maintained a database of all the best results achieved in athletics worldwide [17]
Summary
Recent studies have shown that Russian athletes dominate specific sports disciplines such as cross-country skiing (e.g., Engadin Ski Marathon, Vasaloppet) [1,2] and long-distance running (e.g., Comrades Marathon, 100-km ultra-marathons) [3,4]. These findings appeared to qualify for further investigation since in all data analyses always all finishers and—when possible—all years of all editions of these events were considered. Scopus and PubMed were searched using the syntax “nationality AND (ultra-endurance OR ultra-marathon OR cross-country skiing) in 1/4/2020.
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