Do You Think Athletes Today Are Better Than Those Of The Past - Research Paper Example

Do you think athletes today are better than those of the past? of the of the Contents Contents 2 3 Introduction 3 Research objectives 4 Literature review 5 Research methodology 7 Findings and analysis 8 Conclusion 9 References 11 Abstract This research is carried out to answer the research question as to whether the athletes competing in the present world are better performers than the athletes who competed earlier and who had established records in athletics. It is found out from the research that there has been a noticeable improvement in the performances of the athletes in all types of athletics activities. The factors like the advancements in technology and higher payments for the athletes are recognized as the most prominent factors that have increased the motivation and interest of the athletes to participate in the athletic events like the Olympics and surpass the past records and performances. Also, it is established that the changing ideas regarding the body types and physique required for being an athlete and the increasing popularity and scopes of athletic events are important factors that have improved the performances of the athletes over years. Introduction Athletics is an age old type of sporting activity which has become immensely popular and common in different geographical locations across the world. Athletics competitions and events can be broadly segregated into three forms which are the national championships, the international championships and the annual races and meetings. Over the last few years, it has been noted that the established records of the previous athletes have been rapidly broken by the new entrants into this segment. The contests between the athletes from different inter and intra country levels have become more intensely competitive as a result of which the athletes are pushing the own limits and exceeding the standard established levels of performances in the athletics events and competitions. As such, the question as to whether the present day athletes have actually mastered athletics in a better manner than the old age athletes has emerged as an important question for consideration among researchers and scholars who conduct their studies in this domain. Also, the factors that have led to the increase in the performance levels including the technological, motivational and economical factors are necessary to be identified in order to understand how the performances of the athletes have improved so rapidly over time. This research is carried out with the aim of studying the different performance levels of the athletes over years and comparing their performances to identify whether the athletes have become better performers. Also, the factors that have led to the significant acceleration in the performance levels of the athletes from different countries are studied and analyzed to understand their impact on the overall athletics segment. Research objectives The main objective of the research is to study different resources to study the performances of the present day athletes and the past day athletes and to reach a condition in which the performances of the present day athletes are better that those of the athletes who performed in the early years of athletics events. Thus, the primary question formulated for the research is Are the present day athletes better than the athletes who performed in earlier years of athletics? The secondary research questions that are to be answered through this research are given as follows: Have the performances of the athletes in the last 10 years significantly improved from those of the athletes who performed in the years before this time period as per the available data of Olympics and other international athletics events? What are the factors that impacted the performances of the athletes in the earlier days? What are the factors that impact the performances of the athletes in the present day scenario? What are the main changes that have brought about the improvement in the performance level of the athletes in the current athletics segment? Literature review Athletics is an important segment of sports. Athletics denote an exclusive combination of different sporting activities like jumping, competitive running, walking, throwing etc. the most common types of athletics competitions include road running, race walking, track and field and cross country walking. O’Donoghue (2009) states that athletics is majorly individual based sports in which single athletics compete (O’Donoghue, 2009, pp.26-30). However, in certain forms of athletics forms like cross country athletics and relay races involve the participation of a team of athletes. Athletics is one of the most popular and common competitive sports across the globe. According to the work of Micheli and Jenkins (2001), since, these forms of sporting activities do not require expensive equipment and since the athletic competitions are comparatively simpler in form than other team sporting activities, therefore athletics has been established as a commonly practiced sports form in the world (Micheli and Jenkins, 2001, p.44). As mentioned in the work of Schrier and Allman (2004), the organized athletics competitions started from the Ancient Olympic Games which were introduced in 776 BC. Presently, the modern athletic competitions and events are conducted by the International Association of Athletics Federations. Nevill, Atkinson and Hughes (2008) have stated that the Olympic Games are the most popular athletics competition event that is organized every year in different countries of the world (Nevill, Atkinson and Hughes, 2008, p.102). The athletics meetings are important constituents of the Summer Olympics events and many other types of international athletics meetings like the World Indoor Championships and the IAAF World Championships. The athletes who suffer from any type of physical disability can compete in the IPC Athletics World Championships and the Summer Paralympics (Schrier and Allman, 2004, pp.203-204). Weiss (2003) has identified that the natural physical capabilities and capacities of the athletes play a crucial role in deciding the level of success of the athlete (Weiss, 2003, pp.172-175). As per Preuss and García (2005), in the present scenario, it can be noted that breaking records and pushing the limits of physical exertion and athletic achievements act as most important factors for the aggregation required in marginal gains (Preuss and García, 2005, p.80). Haake (2000) has argued that a number of small improvements in physical exertion combined with the ability of stretching ones limits and the technological advances in the training equipment are factors that make big differences in the careers of the modern day athletes (Haake, 2000, p.200). McFall, Jamieson and Harkins (2009) argue that the innovations and technological advances in the area of equipments that support the training of the athletes like the high technology based monitoring devices; performance recording devices etc. have been the most prominent supporting factors for improving the performance levels of the modern athletes as compared to the athletes who competed on the international championships in the earlier years (McFall, Jamieson and Harkins, 2009, pp.135-154). As per Strauss (2002), the real time coordination between the athletes and the coaches and trainers during an athletic performance also help to boost the performances s of the individual athletes apart from enabling them to practice in a more guided and monitored manner (Strauss, 2002, pp.372-390). As per the work of Cox (2001), in the beginning of the 20th century, most of the coaches and physical education trainers were of the idea that an average body form and type was most ideal for the athletic endeavors (Cox, 2001, p.95). In the 1920s, the athletes who were considered to be elite class shot putter and high jumpers were of similar sizes, body weights and height. Jamieson and Harkins (2007) have stated that with time, this idea started to be replaced by an idea that the possession of highly specialized physiques are more important that average body types for being good athletes (Jamieson and Harkins, 2007, p.544). It was also perceived that different body forms and physiques were suitable for different types of athletic activities. Wallechinsky (2004) has proposed that this theory formulated by the sports scientists and the physical education coaches changed the scenario of the athletics events and created wider scope for a new generation and type of athletes in this sector (Wallechinsky, 2004, p.112). The Olympic Games motto is Altus, Citius and Fortius which in English mean Higher, Faster and Stronger (Froes, 2001, p.100). It is argued by Jamieson and Harkins (2007) that the athletes in the present day scenario have fulfilled this motto rapidly by breaking the previous athletic records as well as pushing the boundaries to cross their own records and levels of performances (Jamieson and Harkins, 2007, p.544). Research methodology The research methodology used in this research work mainly involves the collection of secondary data. The data from relevant and authentic data sources like academic journals, books, newspaper publications and sports magazines are collected for finding out the relevant information required for the research. Both the qualitative and quantitative data are collected for the research to study the topic from the measurable as well as non measurable aspects of the research. Findings and analysis The data collected from the research methodology are suitably analyzed and interpreted to derive proper findings from the same. It is identified that the advancements in sports technologies have boosted and optimized the performances of the athletes. It is also noted that many athletes have become savvier about the use of illegal ways of improving their performance levels like the consumption of drugs which enhance athletic performances. This is a negative aspect of the present day athletics segment (Ahern and Lohr, 2001, p.44). But other than these techniques, increase in the pays for athletic events and the high scale advancements in sports technologies and equipment are more common factors that have improved the performance of the athletes in various types of athletic sports including running cross country racing, walking, throwing, and relay race and cycling. The fact that many athletes have broken records with massive gaps in performances in the Olympics in the years from 2011-2014 suggest that the changes in the mindsets, technologies and objectives of athletes and coaches have made it possible for the athletes to become more motivated and stretch their physical and mental limits to achieve new heights. For example, in the year 1972, the top athlete Eddy Merck established the record for being the biggest achiever in cycling by cycling over the longest distance 3774 feet in one hour at 30 miles. However, today the scale of this record has improved because the bicycles used by the athletes in cycling activities have become more aerodynamic and thus, has supported in improving the performances of the cyclers in athletic events to a significant extent. In the year 2000, the record for the same event was set at 4657 feet at the same scale of one hour for 30 miles cycling which was a total of 883 feet more than the record set by Eddy Merck in 1972 (Coakley, 2007, p.14). It can be evaluated that the new record was more than the old one by large leap. Nevertheless, the credit to this improvement majorly goes to the advancements in the cycling technologies and equipments (Hughes, 2002, pp.739-740). It is also found out from the records that the height of the average female gymnasts who participate in the athletics events have decreased from 5 feet 3 inches to 4 feet nine inches over the last 30 years. This has acted as beneficial factors for the power to weight ratio of the gymnasts and helped to improve the spinning speeds and resiliency in the air (Beilock and Carr, 2001, p.701). Also, the average length of the forearm of the athletes that is considered to be most suitable for a water polo player has increased making it easier for these athletes to achieve more forceful throwing scopes in the game. In case of swimming, if the fastest swimmer in the history of athletics, Michael Philips is compared to the current world record holder in athletics swimming, it can be seen that the difference in height between these two athletics record holders is 7 inches, but the body types of these two athletes are similar which have made it possible for them to create records in swimming in their respective times (Harkins, 2006, pp.436-440). Additionally, it can be seen that the performances of renowned Olympic gold medalists like Stacy Dragila, Michael Chnag and Tiger Woods have remarkably surpassed that of the other athletes in previous years in the respective types of athletics to create new world class records (Beilock, Jellison, Rydell, McConnell and Carr, 2006, pp.1059-1071). Conclusion Thus, it can be identified from the findings and analysis that the performances of the athletes have significantly improved over time. However, the improvements in the achievements, record setting and performances of these athletes are majorly impacted by the changing ideologies of the athletics world and the support systems provided to the athletes by the technologically advanced training systems and athletic equipments. Other factors like changing genes and the recognition that different types of body and physique can be trained properly for athletic activities have also added to the scope of different people becoming successful athletes recognized on an international platform. References Ahern, D. K., & Lohr, B. A. (2001). Psychosocial factors in sports injury rehabilitation. Clinics in Sports Medicine, 16(4), 44. Beilock, S. L., & Carr, T. H. (2001). On the fragility of skilled performance: What governs choking under pressure. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 130, 701. Beilock, S. L., Jellison, W. A., Rydell, R. J., McConnell, A. R. & Carr, T. H. (2006). On the causal mechanisms of stereotype threat: Can skills that don’t rely heavily on working memory still be threatened? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1059–1071. Coakley, J. (2007). Sport in Society: Issues and Controversies. New York: McGraw-Hill. Cox, R. H. (2001). Sport Psychology: Concepts and Applications. New York: WCB/McGraw Hill. Froes, F. H. 2001. Is the Use of Advanced Materials in Sports Equipment Unethical? Journal of Management, 15, 100-102. Haake, S. (2000). Physics, Technology and the Olympics. Physics World, 9, 200. Harkins, S. G. (2006). Mere effort as the mediator of the evaluation– performance relationship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 401. Hughes, M.D. (2002). The use of performance indicators in performance analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 20, 739-740. Jamieson, J. P., & Harkins, S. G. (2007). Mere effort and stereotype threat performance effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 544. McFall, S., Jamieson, J. P., & Harkins, S. (2009). Testing the generalizability of the mere effort account of the evaluation–performance relationship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 135– 154. Micheli, L. J. & Jenkins, M. D. (2001).  The Sports Medicine Bible: Prevent, Detect, and Treat Your Sports Injuries Through the Latest Medical Techniques. New York: HarperCollins. Nevill, A., Atkinson, G. & Hughes, M. (2008). Twenty-five years of sport performance research in the Journal of Sports Sciences. Journal of Sports Sciences, 26, 413-426. O’Donoghue, P.G. (2009). Introducing the interacting performances theory. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 9, 1, 26-30. Preuss, H. & García, M. C. (2005). The Economics of Staging the Olympics: A Comparison of the Games 1972–2008. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.  Schrier, E. W. & Allman, W. F. (2004). Newton at the Bat: The Science in Sports. New York: Charles Scribners Sons. Strauss, B. (2002). The impact of supportive behavior on performance in team sports. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 33, 372–390. Wallechinsky, D. (2004). The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics, Athens 2004 Edition. London: Sport Classic Books. Walter, F., Lames, M. & McGarry, T. (2007). Analysis of sports performance as a dynamical system by means of the relative phase. International Journal of Computer Science in Sport, 6, 2, 35-41. Weiss, M. R. (2003). Psychological aspects of sport-injury rehabilitation: A developmental perspective. Journal of Athletic Training, 38(2), 172-175. Read More