Alternative Method to Evaluate Performance Improvement Rate in Athletics Middle Distance Events

Purpose The aims of this study were to propose an alternative method to assess an optimal performance improvement rate (PIR) that would be used as a tool for coaches and elite athletes willing to reach their personal best, mainly those seeking for national, continental or even world record (WR) in middle-distance events. We further compared the improvement rate of women vs. men of the top-10 ranked athletes in the IAAF running these middle-distance events Method The top 10 athletes in the IAAF ranking of 800 m, 1500 m, and 3000 m events for each sex were assessed for their history of race times before achieving their personal record (PR). The difference between PR (‘actual’ season) and the best race time in the last season was defined as the 1st season improvement rate (1-SIR), whereas the average improvement rate in the last and preceding seasons was the multi-season improvement rate (M-SIR). 1-SIR and M-SIR were calculated for each athlete. Result There were sex differences in the 1500 m with a large effect size (d = − 0.746) in 1-SIR (P = 0.001) and very large (d = − 2.249) in M-SIR (P = 0.001). Women improved more than men before the PR/WR achievements in the 800 m and 1500 m events (P = 0.001) and had similar improvement rates before performing PR/WR in 3000 m events (P = 0.533). Conclusion Women improve more before PR/WR achievement in 800 m and 1500 m races. However, in the 3000 m men and women have similar improvement rates in previous seasons before the PR/WR achievement.