THE TRANSITION FROM ELITE JUNIOR ATHLETE TO SUCCESSFUL SENIOR ATHLETE – IMPLICATIONS FOR ATHLETICS HIGH PERFORMANCE PROGRAMMES A thesis submitted to AUT University in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2013 AUT University Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences by Stephen Charles Hollings MPhil, DipPE, DipEd (STN), HDipT Primary supervisor: Professor Patria Hume Secondary supervisor: Associate Professor Clifford Mallett Tertiary supervisor: Professor Will Hopkins TABLE OF CONTENTS ATTESTATION OF AUTHORSHIP ............................................................................................................... IX CANDIDATE CONTRIBUTIONS TO CO‐AUTHORED WORKS .........................................................................X ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... XIII DEDICATION ......................................................................................................................................... XIV ETHICAL APPROVAL ............................................................................................................................... XV ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................ XVI DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................... XVIII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALISATION................................................................................ 1 BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................................... 1 AIM OF THE THESIS ................................................................................................................................ 2 THESIS STRUCTURE ................................................................................................................................ 2 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 2: ELITE JUNIOR ATHLETES' DEVELOPMENT AND THEIR TRANSITION TO SENIOR ATHLETICS – A NARRATIVE LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................................ 18 OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................................ 18 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 18 LITERATURE SEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 20 FINDINGS .......................................................................................................................................... 20 Current knowledge regarding the process of developing junior athletes .................................... 20 Examination of theoretical models of how talented juniors are progressed to seniors in athletics .............................................................................................................................................................. 25 Current practice of athlete development and transition ............................................................. 29 The gap between theoretical models and current practice ......................................................... 30 Further research ......................................................................................................................... 31 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................ 32 CHAPTER 3 ‐ METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................. 36 PHILOSOPHICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS ........................................................................... 36 RESEARCH PARADIGMS ......................................................................................................................... 37 ONTOLOGICAL UNDERPINNING ............................................................................................................... 38 EPISTEMOLOGICAL UNDERPINNING ......................................................................................................... 39 MIXED METHOD RATIONALE .................................................................................................................. 40 DESIGN ............................................................................................................................................. 41 Page | i CHAPTER 4: IS SUCCESS AT THE WORLD JUNIOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS A PREREQUISITE FOR SUCCESS AT WORLD SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS OR OLYMPIC GAMES? – PROSPECTIVE AND RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSES ..................................................................................................................... 46 OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................................ 46 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 46 (A) ELITE SENIOR ATHLETES TRACKED RETROSPECTIVELY TO WHEN THEY WERE ELITE JUNIOR ATHLETES ................... 49 METHODS ......................................................................................................................................... 50 Data extraction .......................................................................................................................... 50 RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................... 50 World Senior Champions, Olympic Champions and 2008 Beijing Olympic medalists who did not compete at a prior World Junior Championships ................................................................................... 50 (B) JUNIOR MEDALISTS TRACKED PROSPECTIVELY TO WHEN THEY COMPETED AT GLOBAL COMPETITIONS OR OTHERWISE .................................................................................................................................................................. 51 METHODS ......................................................................................................................................... 51 Data extraction .......................................................................................................................... 51 Data statistical analysis .............................................................................................................. 52 RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................... 52 Years to make the transition ...................................................................................................... 55 DISCUSSION ....................................................................................................................................... 55 Elite Seniors as Elite Juniors ........................................................................................................ 56 Junior Medalists to Elite Seniors ................................................................................................. 56 Elite Seniors who were not Elite Juniors ...................................................................................... 57 Transition times and event bias .................................................................................................. 57 Country analysis ......................................................................................................................... 57 General ...................................................................................................................................... 58 Future directions ........................................................................................................................ 59 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 60 LINK: TO CHAPTER 5 ............................................................................................................................... 61 CHAPTER 5: PROGRESSION OF NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIAN WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS COMPETITORS TO SENIOR REPRESENTATION.......................................................................................... 63 OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................................ 63 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 63 METHODS ......................................................................................................................................... 65 Data extraction .......................................................................................................................... 65 Data statistical analysis .............................................................................................................