Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which body build/ composition characteristics discriminated between elite adolescent male athletes competing in different sports. One hundred sixty-three National Junior Olympic Championship participants (age: X +/- SD=17.3 +/- 0.8) volunteered as subjects for this study. The sample included 17 throwers, 52 sprinters/jumpers, 26 middle distance runners, 12 gymnasts/divers, 17 wrestlers, and 39 swimmers. The body build/composition variables included fat-free body (FFB), fat-free body/height (FFB/Ht), body weight (BW) height (Ht), relative fat (RF), ponderal index (PI), and biacromial diameter/bi-iliac diameter (BA/BI). Multiple discriminant analysis revealed three significant (p<0.05) discriminant functions (DF1, DF2, and DF3). DF1 described primarily the body build/composition differences between the throwers and all other groups of athletes with the most potent discriminators being Ht, BW, PI and FFB. The second function (DF2) described primarily the differences between the gymnasts/divers and swimmers. The most potent discriminators between these groups of athletes were Ht and FFB. DF3 represented primarily the body build/composition differences between the wrestlers and middle distance runners. Measures of muscularity (FFB and FFB/Ht) were the variables which best discriminated between these groups of athletes. Generally the success in discriminating between the participants of the sports represented in this study was due to measure of body weight, height, and muscularity traits. Verf.-Referat