Olympic Competition Research Articles

Ranking Prediction Model Using the Competition Record of Ladies Professional Golf Association Players.

Chae, JS, Park, J, and So, W-Y. Ranking prediction model using the competition record of ladies professional golf association players. J Strength Cond Res 32(8): 2363-2374, 2018-The purpose of this study was to suggest a ranking prediction model using the competition record of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) players. The top 100 players on the tour money list from the 2013-2016 US Open were analyzed in this model. Stepwise regression analysis was conducted to examine the effect of performance and independent variables (i.e., driving accuracy, green in regulation, putts per round, driving distance, percentage of sand saves, par-3 average, par-4 average, par-5 average, birdies average, and eagle average) on dependent variables (i.e., scoring average, official money, top-10 finishes, winning percentage, and 60-strokes average). The following prediction model was suggested:(Equation is included in full-text article.)(Equation is included in full-text article.)(Equation is included in full-text article.)(Equation is included in full-text article.)(Equation is included in full-text article.)Scoring of the above 5 prediction models and the prediction of golf ranking in the 2016 Women's Golf Olympic competition in Rio revealed a significant correlation between the predicted and real ranking (r = 0.689, p < 0.001) and between the predicted and the real average score (r = 0.653, p < 0.001). Our ranking prediction model using LPGA data may help coaches and players to identify which players are likely to participate in Olympic and World competitions, based on their performance.

When art was an Olympic discipline: the Fine Art Salon as a possible model for the concept of the Olympic Art Competitions from an art history perspective

ABSTRACTIn 1948, the seventh Olympic Art Competitions took place in London. The fact that such artistic competitions were conceptualized by Pierre de Coubertin and formed part in the Olympic program in the first half of the twentieth century is not commonly known. And although international sport historians researched different aspects of the Olympic Art Competitions since the 1980s, they have not sufficiently addressed possible artistic influences for such a concept and therefore treat them as a matter of fact. Particularly the fact that Pierre's father, Charles Louis Frédy de Coubertin (1822–1908), had been a famous painter at his time is overlooked up to now. This article traces the artistic background of the father and illustrates how his profession as Fine Art Salon painter influenced Pierre de Coubertin's concept of the Olympic Art Competitions. Subsequently, the paper compares organizational elements of the Fine Art Salons with those of the Olympic Art Competitions and unveils interesting parallels. Concerning the sources used, this article draws on art history sources as well as on unpublished material which was discovered in the archives of the descendants of the Coubertin family.

The Olympic Biathlon - Recent Advances and Perspectives After Pyeongchang.

The biathlon, combining cross-country ski skating with rifle marksmanship, has been an Olympic event since the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, United States, in 1960. As a consequence of replacing the classical with the skating technique in the 1980s, as well as considerable improvements in equipment and preparation of ski tracks and more effective training, the average biathlon skiing speed has increased substantially. Moreover, the mass-start, pursuit, and sprint races have been introduced. Indeed, two of the four current individual Olympic biathlon competitions involve mass-starts, where tactics play a major role and the outcome is often decided during the last round of shooting or final sprint. Biathlon is a demanding endurance sport requiring extensive aerobic capacity. The wide range of speeds and slopes involved requires biathletes to alternate continuously between and adapt different skating sub-techniques during races, a technical complexity that places a premium on efficiency. Although the relative amounts of endurance training at different levels of intensity have remained essentially constant during recent decades, today’s biathletes perform more specific endurance training on roller skis on terrain similar to that used for competition, with more focus on the upper-body, systematic strength and power training and skiing at higher speeds. Success in the biathlon also requires accurate and rapid shooting while simultaneously recovering from high-intensity skiing. Many different factors, including body sway, triggering behavior, and even psychology, influence the shooting performance. Thus, the complexity of biathlon deserves a greater research focus on areas such as race tactics, skating techniques, or shooting process.

The British Olympic football team

PurposeThe decision by the British Olympic Association to enter a soccer team into the Olympic Games of 2012, having not participated in the Olympic soccer competition since 1960, provided an opportunity to study representation as a predictor of fan identification. The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachUsing a quasi-experimental research design, the authors empirically validated the value of representation by comparing the identity levels of homogeneous samples of English and Scottish respondents toward the Great Britain Olympic National Football, participating in the Olympic Games of 2012.FindingsOnly partial support for four sets of hypotheses was found. In general, there seemed to be low levels of identity of each of the samples with the football team, because neither English nor Scottish respondents perceived the team to be representative of them. Nevertheless, the results support the general notion that representation is a valuable predictor of consumer identification.Originality/valueRepresentation has been proposed as a central component of a sport team’s ability to serve as a symbol to their community, which enables the team to benefit from existing fan identities and the community the team is associated with. Yet, an empirical assessment of this phenomenon is lacking.

Olympic Art Competition in Hungary

The present study raises the idea of creating an artistic Olympics to facilitate further scientific, professional and, where approriate, broader social dialogue, taking two dimensions into consideration. On the one hand, it intends to support the realisation of an event of this type in Hungary while articulating valid arguments to emphasise those elements that would make Hungary an ideal organiser. On the other hand, the study offers indicators for further and more thorough scientific examination of the process by outlining the main research directions and methods.

Pengembangan Etika dan Nilai Olympis dalam Mengajar Pendidikan Jasmani dan Olahraga

&#x0D; Abstract: This paper discussed the role of sport in modern development that need to be addressed critically. Modern life makes kids, teen, even parents only move within a narrow room. They exercise less, resulting in excess weight, and other diseases. They need the exercise. Exercise can actually display the lesson of life for one’s ethics. However, implementation of the sport requires a knowledge or education, which will direct a person to exercise properly and correctly. The presence of Olympics (competition) makes a lot of people who exercise justifies any means. Therefore, educator, teacher, or coach must be wise in putting the competition in learning of physical education and sports.&#x0D; Keyword: Sport, Physical Education, Ethics, Olympism, and Teaching.

Efforts to Improve Mathematics Teacher Competency Through Training Program on Design Olympiad Mathematics Problems Based on Higher Order Thinking Skills in The Junior High School

The goal to analyse a improvement of teacher competence after being trained in preparing high-order math olympicad based on high order thinking skills in junior high school teachers in Pesisir Selatan Regency. The sample of these activities are teachers at the MGMP junior high school in Pesisir Selatan District. Evaluation of the implementation is done by giving a pre test and post test, which will measure the success rate of the implementation of this activities. The existence of the devotion activities is expected to understand the enrichment of mathematics olympiad material and training in the preparation of math olympiad questions for the teachers of South Pesisir district junior high school, motivating and raising the interest of the participants in order to follow the mathematics olympiad with the enrichment of mathematics materials and the training of problem solving about mathematics olympiad for junior high school teachers, the participants gain experience and gain insight, as well as the ins and outs of junior mathematics olympiad and implement to teachers and students in olympic competitions. The result of that the post-test is better than the result of pretest in the training of mathematics teacher competence improvement in composing the mathematics olympiad problem based on high order thinking skills of junior high school (SMP) in Pesisir Selatan District, West Sumatra, Indonesia.

Estudio del mercado y producción del caballo Brasileño de Hipismo en el estado de São Paulo

Brazil has a herd of approximately 5.8 million horses, of which 8,700 belong to the Brasileira de Hipismo breed. The breed has represented Brazil in South American, Pan American and Olympic competitions. The growing demand for these animals and their good performance in competitions has become a quite promising market. Research on it, however, is still scarce. As objectives, the research aimed to determine the structure of the Brasileira de Hipismo market in Brazil; obtain information on the breed supply and demand; estimate average horse production and maintenance costs, and propose users breed typology. The Brazilian Association of Equestrian Horse breeders provided information on animal production and marketing. Questionnaires were used to collect data. Six breeders and 25 horse users were interviewed. Descriptive statistics was employed for data analysis. As results, the market is characterized as a monopolistic competition. Breeders use artificial insemination (50%) and embryo transfer (33%), searching for high quality horses. The average annual cost of production per animal was estimated at R$ 5,709.72. The average maintenance cost was R$ 2,587.80 per animal per month. The animals are mainly used for sports. The study concluded that the horse provides other than financial benefits to breeders and production cannot be considered efficient in terms of profitability. Consumers belong to higher social classes and, for the most part, regard their horses as pets.

"Virtually Self-Contained": Unpacking the Narrative in News-Media Coverage of the 2014 Special Olympics World Gamesa

A narrative analysis was performed on 54 texts about the 2015 Special Olympics World Games, as well as accompanying photos, sidebars, and video clips. The narrative affirms that Special Olympics competitions are among the few spaces in the athletes' lives where they can experience true joy and acceptance. Organization officials and volunteers work tirelessly to create a valued social role for the athletes. Yet it is also a bubble, even if it is constructed from "acceptance and equality" (Downes, 2015b, para. 11). In actuality, the experience of Special Olympians is "virtually self-contained" (B. Kamenetzky, 2015, fig. 1). This analysis reveals that within the bubble, athletes aren't really accepted for who they are; they have to be transformed, worked, packaged, molded—given temporary membership in a class of people from which we get so many of our role models—in order to be accepted.

PENERAPAN UJI T-BERPASANGAN UNTUK MELIHAT PENGARUH PEMBINAAN SISWA DALAM MENGHADAPI PERSIAPAN LOMBA OLIMPIADE MATEMATIKA

ABSTRACT Bengkulu is an active participant in the National Science Olympic competition in junior level. But the achievement of Bengkulu’s students is not prominent, especially in the field of Mathematics. Until now Bengkulu has never been quite encouraging achievement in the OSN. Department of Mathematics University of Bengkulu has a human resource that is promising, the competent faculty who can nurture, guide, and prepare students of SMP Negeri 2 Bengkulu to compete in the OSN. Therefore, students of SMP 2 Bengkulu will be coached to understand, analyze and answer the questions, so that they know the math Olympic the strategy and the ways that fast in answering the Olympics questions correctly, so they will be a champion at the provincial and national competition. After coaching is done, it can be concluded that this activity has not been a significant influence. However, development activities that have been implemented are able to provide the knowledge and insight to junior high school students about the material and questions in math Olympic. Keywords: SMP Negeri 2, Math Olympic, paired T-test

Men or Women, Only Five Olympic Sports Matter

This study is a descriptive content analysis of National Broadcasting Company’s (NBC’s) prime-time broadcast coverage of the 2016 summer Olympic games. Olympic coverage is particularly important to the athletes of minor sports—including all women’s sports—because most receive little media attention beyond Olympic competition. The study found no evidence of sexism, but a clear lack of diversity in the sports covered, as NBC dedicated most of its prime time to superstars (Phelps, Biles, Bolt, Kerri Walsh, etc.) and unique stories and personalities (e.g., the Lochtegate and 74-year-old South African coach Botha).

Mirror Images: Exploring the Strengths of Two Olympic Gold-Medal Athletes

When the sport of softball was eliminated from Olympic competition after the 2008 Games, the worldwide softball community grieved. After a 12-year sabbatical, the International Olympic Committee announced the sport would return for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is the most decorated program in the world, winning three consecutive Olympic Gold Medals (1996, 2000, 2004), eight Pan American Championships, and 10 World Championships. In World Championship play, the USA has amassed a lifetime record of 142–13 (USA Softball, 2017b). The purpose of this study was to explore how two of the most successful Olympic athletes in USA softball history used their innate talents and strengths in the way they approached their sport. Using a mixed-method, exploratory qualitative approach, the two Olympians were invited to take the Clifton StrengthsFinder® and asked to share their perceptions of the assessment and how it relates to their athletic experience. Although the Clifton StrengthsFinder® has been utilized by more than 16.3 million people across the world (Gallup Strengths Center, 2017), this is the first research study conducted to explore the potential similarities and differences in the Clifton StrengthsFinder® results of two Gold-medal Olympic athletes.

Progress Estimation and Phase Detection for Sequential Processes.

Process modeling and understanding are fundamental for advanced human-computer interfaces and automation systems. Most recent research has focused on activity recognition, but little has been done on sensor-based detection of process progress. We introduce a real-time, sensor-based system for modeling, recognizing and estimating the progress of a work process. We implemented a multimodal deep learning structure to extract the relevant spatio-temporal features from multiple sensory inputs and used a novel deep regression structure for overall completeness estimation. Using process completeness estimation with a Gaussian mixture model, our system can predict the phase for sequential processes. The performance speed, calculated using completeness estimation, allows online estimation of the remaining time. To train our system, we introduced a novel rectified hyperbolic tangent (rtanh) activation function and conditional loss. Our system was tested on data obtained from the medical process (trauma resuscitation) and sports events (Olympic swimming competition). Our system outperformed the existing trauma-resuscitation phase detectors with a phase detection accuracy of over 86%, an F1-score of 0.67, a completeness estimation error of under 12.6%, and a remaining-time estimation error of less than 7.5 minutes. For the Olympic swimming dataset, our system achieved an accuracy of 88%, an F1-score of 0.58, a completeness estimation error of 6.3% and a remaining-time estimation error of 2.9 minutes.

Anaerobic Capacity Changes of the National Freestyle Wrestlers during the Olympic Qualification Competition Period

This study aimed to evaluate the national level wrestlers’ anaerobic capacity through the preparation and qualification periods for Rio 2016 summer Olympic Games. For this manner, 10 national level freestyle wrestlers’(age 22,10 ± 3,21; weight 64,75 ±6,34; height 164,31 ± 4,75) anaerobic outputs measured 3 times in three month intervals with Bosco repeated jump test. Peak Jump(cm), Flight time, average power, average power/weight, first 15sec average jump height, last 15sec average jump height, fatigue index scores analyzed with repeated measures Anova. Mean power/weight output of the wrestlers increased from 20,42 W/kg to 21,28 W/kg(4,21 %) and fatigue index is decreased from 1,185 to 1,142 (3,62 %). However, this increase was not statistically significant (p&lt;0,05). In six months of qualification and preparation period wrestlers’ anaerobic capacity did not changed and it is thought to have been caused by some reasons such as having already reached a certain anaerobic peak level or athletes’ competition level and frequency which might made it difficult for them to have a proper periodization during the year.

Historical ranking of vault players in artistic gymnastics using PageRank algorithm

Purpose The purpose of this study is to calculate the ranking of vault players in artistic gymnastics by individual and by country using the PageRank algorithm. The purpose of this study is to provide basic data that can be used in gymnastics events by comparing the performances of historical vault players with those of previous Olympic competitions. Methods The data collected for this purpose is a score of 117 vault players based on the results of the Olympic final event published in the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). For data analysis, PegeRnak algorithm was used for calculating the ranking of vault players using MS-Excel and NetMiner. Results The results are as follows that. First, the PageRank algorithm is possible to calculate for historical vault players' rankings. Specifically, the ranking of vault players for historical Olympic calculated by PageRank ranked as Gervasio Deferr from Spain (ESP) at 1st, Alexei Nemov from Russia (RUS) at 2nd, and Klaus Koste from Germany (GDR) at 3rd. Second, Network of vault players' ranking is separated by each generation of Olympic games. Conclusions As a conclusions, it is possible to calculate national ranking of vault games of gymnastics by using PageRank algorithm.

近代オリンピックにおける芸術競技(一九一二-四八年)の考察 : 芸術とスポーツの境界問題をめぐって(第五十六回美学会全国大会発表要旨)

近代オリンピックにおける芸術競技(一九一二-四八年)の考察 : 芸術とスポーツの境界問題をめぐって(第五十六回美学会全国大会発表要旨)

Empirical Model Of Lane Bias Suggests Different Finish Order At 2016 Olympic Swimming Competition

Empirical Model Of Lane Bias Suggests Different Finish Order At 2016 Olympic Swimming Competition

Predicting Performance

PURPOSE: Due to recent external biases shown to have influenced the ability of a nonlinear regression model to predict Olympic performance, the purpose of this study was to employ additional statistical analytics as a means to characterize the progression of performances at future Olympic swim competitions. METHODS: Nonlinear regression models were fit for each swimming event for men (m) and women (w) at the Olympic Games (n=26) from 1948 to 2012. From these, and based upon predicted and observed performances, a ‘best fit’ model including 7 Olympic Games from 1988 to 2012 was selected. To predict future performances (2016), 1454 championship finals swim performances from this time frame were utilized. The mean time of the 8 swimmers in each final was used as the dependent variable to fit the model [time = a x yearb]. A 95% percent confidence interval was calculated using a Monte Carlo simulation method. Residual squared error (RSE), r-squared (r2), confidence interval (CI) length, and absolute difference between observed and predicted of each regression model were compared. RESULTS: Average RSEm (1.24 ± 1.25), RSEw (1.39 ± 1.15). Average r2m (0.76 ± 0.09), r2w (0.72 ± 0.12). There were no statistically significance differences in average RSE (p=0.35) or average r2 (p=0.35) between sex models. Average length of the 95% CIm (3.07 ± 3.13), CIw (3.44 ± 2.86). No difference existed between length of CI between sex (p=0.76). Absolute difference in time between observed and predicted for men (0.79 ± 0.73 s), women (1.56 ± 1.89 s). No differences existed between the absolute difference in observed and predicted between the men and women models (p=0.19). 92.3% (n=12) of observed men and 69.2% (n=9) observed women mean performances for 2016 fell within the 95% confidence interval of the predicted model value. CONCLUSIONS: In general, the nonlinear regression prediction models produce a valid and accurate approximation of Olympic performance progression as reflected by the 2016 Games. However, it is unclear why there is a different accuracy of ‘fit’ for the men and women predictions. Further study is needed to evaluate the potential factors apparently allowing the women to out-perform the ‘best fit’ model.

The utility of salivary testosterone and cortisol concentration measures for assessing the stress responses of junior athletes during a sporting competition.

This study examined the utility of salivary testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) concentration measures for assessing the acute stress responses of junior athletes during a sporting competition. Paired capillary blood and saliva samples were taken from 71 junior athletes (45 males, 26 females) before and after a simulated Olympic weightlifting competition. The concentration measures of salivary T and C were referenced against blood total T (TT) and C (TC) concentrations. All hormones were tested by immunoassay. The competition promoted an increase in the blood TT concentrations of the male (10.1%±18.7%) and female (12.9%±19.9%) athletes (P<.05), with TC also rising in females (37.5%±69%) and tending to increase in males (23.2%±56.1%). No significant changes in salivary T or C were identified. Locally-weighted regression revealed that salivary T was strongly related to blood TT in males (r2 =.84), but not females (r2 =-.15), whereas salivary C was moderately related to blood TC in both sexes (r2 =.43, r2 =.48), respectively. A short, high-intensity competition promoted a predictable stress-induced rise in blood TT and TC concentrations. We observed no hormonal stress responses in saliva under the current format, which could be explained by individual variability and blood-saliva differences in hormone kinetics. Still, the salivary T and C measures did show a moderate to strong ability to track individual blood TT (males only) and TC (both sexes) concentrations in a young athletic cohort across a broad physiological range. Recommendations for researchers and practitioners are presented.

How players exploit variability and regularity of game actions in female volleyball teams

Variability analysis has been used to understand how competitive constraints shape different behaviours in team sports. In this study, we analysed and compared variability of tactical performance indices in players within complex I at two different competitive levels in volleyball. We also examined whether variability was influenced by set type and period. Eight matches from the 2012 Olympics competition and from the Portuguese national league in the 2014–2015 season were analysed (1496 rallies). Variability of setting conditions, attack zone, attack tempo and block opposition was assessed using Shannon entropy measures. Magnitude-based inferences were used to analyse the practical significance of compared values of selected variables. Results showed differences between elite and national teams for all variables, which were co-adapted to the competitive constraints of set type and set periods. Elite teams exploited system stability in setting conditions and block opposition, but greater unpredictability in zone and tempo of attack. These findings suggest that uncertainty in attacking actions was a key factor that could only be achieved with greater performance stability in other game actions. Data suggested how coaches could help setters develop the capacity to play at faster tempos, diversifying attack zones, especially at critical moments in competition.