Anthropometric and body build variables as discriminators of event participation in elite adolescent male track and field athletes

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which anthropometric and body build measures discriminated between elite adolescent male athletes competing in different track and field events. One hundred and six national-level Junior Olympic male athletes (mean age +/- s.d. = 17.7 +/- 0.7 yr) volunteered as subjects. The sample included 26 middle distance runners, 24 sprinters/hurdlers, 39 jumpers and 17 throwers. The body build variables measured included fat-free body weight/height (FFB/Ht), the sum of 6 skinfolds (SUM-SF), the sum of 12 diameters (SUM-D), the sum of 11 circumferences (SUM-C), biacromial diameter/bi-iliac diameter (BA/BI) and the bidimensional somatotype rating components X (ectomorphic ratingendomorphic rating) and Y [twice the mesomorphic rating (endomorphic+ ectomorphic rating)]. Multiple discriminant analysis revealed three significant (P0.05) discriminant functions (DF1, DF2, DF3). Validation of the discriminant functions revealed an overall value of 76.8% of subjects correctly classified. Based on these results it was apparent that anthropometric and body build variables discriminated between adolescent male track and field competitors in different events. However, the variables most responsible for these between-event differences were dependent upon which events were being compared.