Masters Athletes
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Eugeniusz Piasecki University School of Physical Education in Poznań Krzysztof Kusy Jacek Zieliński MASTERS ATHLETICS Social, biological and practical aspects of veterans sport Poznań 2006 TRANSLATION FROM POLISH INTO ENGLISH MAGDALENA STEFAŃSKA-STEVEN (Foreword, Authors’ note, Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4) AGNIESZKA KOSARZYCKA (Chapters 8 and 10) KATARZYNA SŁAWIŃSKA (Chapters 7 and 9) ZBIGNIEW NADSTOGA (Chapters 5 and 6) PUBLISHING COMMITTEE Stefan Bosiacki, Lechosław B. Dworak, Tomasz Jurek, Piotr Krutki, Wojciech Lipoński, Bogusław Marecki, Hanna Mizgajska-Wiktor, Wiesław Osiński, Łucja Pilaczyńska-Szcześniak (chairwoman), Marek Stuczyński REVIEWER Dieter Massin EDITOR Wiesława Parzy COMPUTER TYPESETTING Ewa Rajchowicz PHOTOGRAPHS Karl-Heinz Flucke COVER DESIGN Krystyna Gurtowska Arkadiusz Kosmaczewski Krzysztof Kusy All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without the prior written permission of the owner of the rights/publisher. Copyright © by Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego im. Eugeniusza Piaseckiego (Eugeniusz Piasecki University School of Physical Education) ul. Królowej Jadwigi 27/39, 61-871 Poznań, Poland BOOK SERIES: MONOGRAPH no. 372 ISBN 83-88923-69-2 ISSN 0239-7161 The Publishing Department. Order no. 7/06 Contents Foreword ......................................................................................... 5 Authors’ note ................................................................................... 7 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 9 1.1. Old age in the historical perspective ..................................... 9 1.2. The humanistic message of veterans sport .......................... 10 2. DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD AND MASTERS ATHLETICS .................................... 15 2.1. The population ...................................................................... 15 2.2. Ageing of societies and its consequences ............................ 17 2.3. The need for masters athletics .............................................. 19 3. MASTERS RECORD HOLDERS .............................................. 22 3.1. Age and record results in athletics ........................................ 22 3.2. World records in athletics with consideration of athletes’ age......................................................................................... 25 3.3. Laws of progress of sports results ........................................ 33 3.4. Prospects of progress of sports results in veterans athletics 37 4. THE HISTORY OF VETERAN MOVEMENT ........................... 43 4.1. The world and Europe ........................................................... 45 4.2. Poland ................................................................................... 60 5. ORGANISATION OF MASTERS ATHLETICS MOVEMENT .. 74 5.1. World Masters Athletics – WMA ........................................... 75 5.2. IAAF Masters’ Committee ..................................................... 75 5.3. Continental associations – European Veterans Athletics Association (EVAA) .............................................................. 75 5.4. International Masters Games Association (IMGA) ................ 76 6. CHANGES IN ATHLETIC FITNESS WITH AGE ..................... 78 6.1. Sprint ..................................................................................... 79 6.2. Middle distances ................................................................... 85 6.3. Long distances ...................................................................... 88 6.4. Jumping events ..................................................................... 91 6.5. Throws .................................................................................. 100 6.6. Summary ............................................................................... 103 3 7. THE IMPACT OF ATHLETICS TRAINING ON HEALTH AND FITNESS OF MASTERS ATHLETES ............................ 106 7.1. Health benefits ..................................................................... 106 7.2. Cardiorespiratory endurance ............................................... 109 7.3. Strength abilties ................................................................... 113 7.4. Anaerobic power .................................................................. 114 7.5. Body composition ................................................................. 114 7.6. Hazards of sports training .................................................... 115 8. ANTI-DOPING IN MASTERS SPORT ......................................... 124 8.1. Reasons for doping in masters sport ................................... 124 8.2. The position of the masters movement on doping ............... 127 8.3. Competitor education ........................................................... 129 8.4. Therapeutic use exemption .................................................. 130 8.5. Anti-doping declarations ...................................................... 132 8.6. Anti-doping control ............................................................... 134 8.7. Gene doping ........................................................................ 134 9. BACKGROUND TO THE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF MASTERS ATHLETES ............................................................... 141 9.1. Athlete’s experience ............................................................. 141 9.2. Education and material status .............................................. 141 9.3. Level and profile of physical activity ..................................... 142 9.4. Motives of undertaking physical activity ............................... 145 10. VETERAN ATHLETICS COMPETITION IN PRACTICE ....... 147 10.1. Age categories .................................................................. 147 10.2. Events ............................................................................... 149 10.3. Specific features of sporting regulations ........................... 154 10.4. Equipment and implements ............................................... 157 10.5. Medal standards ................................................................ 164 10.6. Organisation of events ...................................................... 164 10.7. Organisers of masters athletics competitions and the fair play principle ..................................................................... 168 REFERENCES ................................................................................ 170 4 Foreword Sooner or later everyone has to face ageing. It is a well-known fact that the process of ageing starts already at birth. For some time now, however, this subject has gained greater and greater political and social importance which is also manifested [...] to a large extent in sport, as with the ageing population the society encounters new unfamiliar problems. [...] Thus, special social meaning should be attributed to sport. The healthier and more independent older people are, the higher the quality of their lives and the lower the costs they charge a society with. The problem of solitude of elderly people, known already today, could be significantly alleviated by stronger social recognition and support of masters movement. Sports activity unites people, strengthens social contacts, according to the motto: “Integration instead of isolation”. Therefore, it is not surprising that the European Veterans Athletics Association acts with the motto “One Family”. Masters athletics plays a special role in this context. It is one of the few disciplines in which one can participate in events until advanced old age, and in any case adequately to age. This is also reflected in the motto of the international federation of World Masters Athletics: “Athletics for life”. Unfortunately, scientific studies of masters sport have only been available in the form of studies which are relatively short and narrow in scope. However, the monograph “Masters Athletics” by Krzysztof Kusy, PhD and Jacek Zieliński, PhD, Polish specialists in physical culture sciences, is the first so detailed, fundamental study in the area of athletics of the elderly, appropriately ambitious and systematised, which will be a benchmark for future publications. [...] The monograph, prepared by the publishing house of the University School of Physical Education in Poznań and appearing during the 15th European Veterans Championships Stadia in July 2006, touches upon almost every aspect of masters athletics in a very impressive way. Both authors deserve many thanks for this long awaited work. They address to the same extent – as they mention in the authors’ note – scientists, instructors, coaches, students and masters athletes 5 themselves. Due to its methodical and comprehensive approach we should hope that the monograph will be widely circulated and will gain recognition as a standard work, and will inspire to more studies in the area. Dieter Massin President of European Veterans Athletics Association (EVAA) (excerpts from the review) 6 Authors’ note The monograph we present is one of few attempts at synthetic, cross-sectional presentation of issues related to athletics of veterans, taking into consideration a current state of knowledge in various branches of physical culture sciences. This volume is aimed for scientists, lecturers, coaches and instructors of athletics and students of universities and departments related to sport,