Original scientific paper
Morphological Differences of Elite Croatian Track-and-Field Athletes
Vlatko Vučetić
Branka R. Matković
Davor Šentija
Abstract
In this sudy we present the morphological characteristics of 54 Croatian national level track-and-field athletes. 21
anthropometric body measures were taken on a sample of 15 sprinters (S), 16 endurance sprinters (S4), 10 middle-distance
runners (MD) and 13 long-distance runners (LD). Body fat percentage, body mass index and somatotype were also
calculated. Canonical discriminative analysis showed significant difference between the athletes of various running
events, in the measures of body volume and body fat, while no significant difference was found in the variables of longitudinal
and transversal dimensions of the skeleton. ANOVA and Student t-test for independent samples showed statistically
significantly higher thigh and lower leg circumference in sprinters, as well as greater upper arm skinfold in middle-
distance runners. The mesomorphic component is a dominant characteristic of somatotype of the runners in all
events, whereas the ectomorphic component is the least marked
Keywords
runners; track and field; anthropometrics; body composition; somatotype
Hrčak ID:
27031
URI
Publication date:
2.9.2008.
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