The Science Behind Competition and Winning in Athletics: Using World-Level Competition Data to Explore Pacing and Tactics

Figure 1. The mean (+ SD) 100-m segment speed for each group of men and women 800 and 1,500 m athletes. Differences between successive segments (p < 0.05, d ≥ 0.61) are represented by § (blue for medalists, red for Top 8, and green for Top 12). Differences in segment speed between groups (p < 0.05, d ≥ 0.61) have been annotated for medalists vs. Top 8 (#), medalists vs. Top 12 (1,500 m only) (*), and Top 8 vs. Top 12 (1,500 m only) (†).

Figure 2. The mean (+ SD) section speed expressed as a percentage of mean speed for all men and women in the 800 and 1,500 m events. Differences in segment speed percentage between men and women (p < 0.05, d ≥ 0.61) have been annotated (#).

Figure 3. The mean (+ SD) 100-m segment speed for each group of men and women 5,000 m athletes. Differences between successive segments (p < 0.05, d ≥ 0.61) are represented by § (blue for medalists, red for Top 8, and green for Top 15). Differences in segment speed between groups (p < 0.05, d ≥ 0.61) have been annotated for medalists vs. Top 8 (#), medalists vs. Top 15 (*), and Top 8 vs. Top 15 (†).

Figure 4. The mean (+ SD) 100-m segment speed for each group of men and women 10,000 m athletes. Differences between successive segments (p < 0.05, d ≥ 0.61) are represented by § (blue for medalists, red for Top 8, and green for Top 15). Differences in segment speed between groups (p < 0.05, d ≥ 0.61) have been annotated for medalists vs. Top 8 (#), medalists vs. Top 15 (*), and Top 8 vs. Top 15 (†).

Figure 5. The mean (+ SD) section speed expressed as a percentage of mean speed for all men and women in the 5,000 and 10,000 m events. Differences in segment speed percentage between men and women (p < 0.05, d ≥ 0.61) have been annotated (#).

Figure 6. The mean (+ SD) 5-km and final 2.2-km segment speeds for each group of men and women marathon athletes. Differences between successive segments (p < 0.05, d ≥ 0.61) are represented by § (blue for medalists, red for Top 8, and green for Top 15). Differences in segment speed between groups (p < 0.05, d ≥ 0.61) have been annotated for medalists vs. Top 8 (#), medalists vs. Top 15 (*), and Top 8 vs. Top 15 (†).

Figure 7. The mean (+ SD) section speed expressed as a percentage of mean speed for all men and women in the marathon and 20 km racewalk events. Differences in segment speed percentage between men and women (p < 0.05, d ≥ 0.61) have been annotated (#).

Figure 8. The mean (+ SD) 2-km segment speed (20 km event) and 5-km segment speed (50 km event) for each group of men and women racewalkers. Differences between successive segments (p < 0.05, d ≥ 0.61) are represented by § (blue for medalists, red for Top 8, and green for Top 15). Differences in segment speed between groups (p < 0.05, d ≥ 0.61) have been annotated for medalists vs. Top 8 (#), medalists vs. Top 15 (*), and Top 8 vs. Top 15 (†).

Figure 9. The individual 1-km segment speeds for the medalists in the men's and women's 50 km racewalk events at the 2017 IAAF World Championships.