Age of Peak Athletic Ability

If you want to learn something, don't look at WR's. Look at the age distribution of the top 100 performers, or even top 1000, and the ages at which those individuals ran their PRs. As a refinement, restrict the search to athletes who are no longer competing or are so far past their peak that they very obviously aren't going to improve (i.e., exclude current teenage phenoms who may well continue to improve, it's safe to include people like Haile who are technically still at it but surely aren't still chasing PRs, though).

A 1988 study by Richard Shulz and Christine Curnow tabulated the mean age of Olympic Gold Medallists from 1948-1980; results are as follows:

MEN

100m 23.4

200m 23.7

800m 24.2

1500m 24.5

5000m 28.4

10000m 27.8

Marathon 30.1

WOMEN

100m 22.3

200m 22.1

800m 23.8

(not enough data for distances over 1500m, remember this was done in the early '80s)

These ages have almost certainly increased since then because of the advent of more money for professionals, better training, and better injury treatments.

Most LDR men who stay fit even after college, peak in their mid 20's.

However, it is interesting to note that man men who did not run in college or at a very intense college program, tend to peak in their early 30's.

Man could have become very good marathoners had they pursued it. But, many, who rarely admit it, are either not willing to do the work or are afraid of the distance

I also agree that this is a pretty interesting thread, seeing as I have been thinking about this myself for some time. I think it depends on how serious and drastic the training is as well as how injury prone the runner is. I read somewhere that for males the peak age of physical ability is about 32. Wish I could give the proper citation, but I can't find it, sorry.

According to "Better Training for Distance Runners," age at which most prof runners set their lifetime bests was about 27 for distances 1500m-10,000m, and 24.x for 800m. Can't remember longer distances, and it might be different now since it seems like younger and younger guys are coming up and running the longer distances. Wanjiru was 22 when he won the Olympic marathon in 2:06, for instance.

22 years old is peak. plus or minus a year. that is if you go for it from an early age.

with drugs it can be anytime before age 35.

the huge red flag is when you start breaking records 5 years after peak..

there is evidence that long distance and cross country favors older guys.

but historically people don't try long distance till later, so we don't really know?.

i'd say long distance add 4 years to peak.. that's 26.

and with throws and what not, more like 28-30.

longjack wrote:

with drugs it can be anytime before age 35.

the huge red flag is when you start breaking records 5 years after peak..

Talk bullshit much?

I also think that around 22 is the peak of shear athletic ability.

But after that, experience and building background and efficiency can lead to greater performances some years after that.

Peyton Manning uses his experience to be better now than when he was 22 and was stronger and more agile.

Michael Johnson wasn't as committed to the 400 early in his career, he was running just the 200 plus relays at age 22.

Then he would double and not go all out in the 400.

His PR is 31/32 when he just ran the 400 that year.

In a lot of sports you can increase your skill while your athletic ability declines and do better overall.

Like hitting a baseball.

This is good info. I see a lot of numbers, so I'm guessing it really varies from athlete and their event/sport (but since we are on LR, it's about running). What about someone who starts running in their early 20s -- say maybe 22 or 23? Obviously they won't have the experience as someone who starts running in their teens, but what could a 22 or 23 year old be capable of?

All of you people have no clue as to what you're even talking about.

This is not 1920 anymore. We are not living in 1920 so stop acting like we are.

If 20's to early 30's was the peak then why is it that I have been doing the same exact thing at the track and gym for over 20 years and i'm now just getting all time records at both the gym and the track and i'm 36 going on 37 soon?

Explain that theory to me again? Because i'm not listening.

And i'm natural. I have never done steroids. So how is it that i'm magically lifting more weight at the gym? My program has stayed the same for 20 years..

How is it that i'm sprinting faster in this 35 yard dash I do and the 100 meter dash? Explain that to me?

Instead of going around deceiving everyone into believing that the human body peaks at early 30s or late 20s. Maybe you should all be telling everyone that the human body doesn't reach it's peak in absolute strength until 37-42.

You all have it wrong. The universe is billions of years old and here we have you all telling people that they get their peak at late 20s to early 30s..

Do you know why you think that is?

It's because the average stupid, gullible, naive, and deceived athlete in todays world is led to believe what their coaches tell them. When their coaches tell them to retire at 28 or 29 they usually do..

So they never even know what they were possible of doing in their late 30s.

Late 30's is extremely potent for peak power.

That's one factor. Another factor is this.

Did you ever wonder why most athletes retire early? It's because they get so scared that they won't be able to perform in their late 30's that they won't to retire early because they fear what people will say about them if they aren't able to keep performing at the rate they are performing right before the retire.

So therefore they even stop working out.

So they either get scared into it or they are pressured into it.

This is why people who aren't professional athletes always reach their true potential in upper 30's to low 40's because there is no stupid coach telling them they won't be able to sprint fast after 27.

Look at felix sanchez or countless of other sprinters..

I deadlifted the most weight ever this year, squatted the most weight ever this year, benched press my most weight ever this year. Every single thing I am doing at the gym is a personal record everytime i go there.

I was nowhere near the strength level that i am at now when i was at 28 year old. Nowhere near it.

An example of someone that doesn't know about this is trey hardee..

He's talking about quitting after this olympics at only 32.

He prob has no clue that he's nowhere near his peak if he continues to push himself. He could easily do 2 more olympics if he lifts heavy with low reps.

Also this is just for natural athletes. This theory does not apply to steroid users. Because steroid users see peaks at all ages. But steroids do not count so nothing a steroid user ever accomplishes ever means anything.

Because it's not who the person truly is deep down within themselves.

Depends on your event. For milers, almost all the top guys run their fastest time by the time they hit their mid-20s, around 24-25. They might run close to their fastest for years, but they never run faster.

It depends on the type of event (muscles utilized, cardiovascular involvement, etc.)