Relative age effect of female and male handball players participating in the Olympics Games Tokyo 2020

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine whether the relative age effect (RAE) was present among handball players participating in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Materials and Methods. The study involved a group of handball players participating in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. All data was collected from the website of the IHF. The research material consisted of data on the players’ dates of birth, which were broken down by four quarters (Q1: January 1–March 31, Q2: April 1–June 30, Q3: July 1–September 30, Q4: October 1–December 31) and two semesters (S1: January 1–June 30, S2: July 1–December 31). The following independent variables were used: game position, continent and world region. Differences between the dates of birth were determined using the chi-square test. To determine the strength of correlations, Cramér’s V was used. Results. In general terms, the main factor differentiating the RAE among handball players participating in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was the geographical location of the country they represented (continent). There was no RAE among female handball players. Among male handball players, the RAE was differentiated by the region of the world (Europe, others). Conclusions. In order to thoroughly investigate and describe the RAE, further research and the search for factors that differentiate it should be carried out.