Investigation of time Relationship Between First Competition and PB Performance of All-Time Top 100 Athletes in Women's 20 km Race Walk

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between the participation of female athletes ranked in the all-time Top 100 list in the Women's 20 km walk event in their first international competition and their personal best times. Method: The research group consists of the top 100 athletes in the all-time list for the women's 20 km walk event. The athletes' date of birth, nationality, personal best (PB), PB competition date, WA points corresponding to the PB, and competition year information based on their first competition registration were obtained from the official World Athletics (WA) website (WA, 2024). The data was analized Pearson's correlation statistics were used to determine the relationships between the variables. Results: It was observed that athletes on the Top 100 race walking list had an average age of 26, the competition performance range was around 4 minutes, and athletes reached their PB performances on average 8 years after their first international competition registration. When examining the distribution of athletes in the Top 100 list by nationality, Russian athletes ranked first with 37%, while China ranked second with 25 athletes. In other words, Russian and Chinese athletes together accounted for 62% of the Top 100 list. A Statistically significant and strong correlation was obtained between the ages of athletes in the Top 100 list and the time it took them to enter the Top 100 list (r=0.80). In other words, as athletes' ages increase, the time it takes them to enter the Top 100 list also increases. Russian and Chinese nationality, who dominate the research group, are analyzed, it is understood that older athletes demonstrate their PB performances in competitions later in the year. Conclusion: Knowing the age at which elite athletes reach their peak performance is important for the healthy implementation of long-term athlete development programs. In long distance events like Race walking ıt is essential to have very long and consistent training periods until the best results.