Sprinting, Change of Direction Ability and Horizontal Jump Performance in Youth Runners According to Gender

The purpose of the study was to assess straight sprinting, change of direction ability and horizontal jump performance in youth runners according to age and gender. Two hundred and fifty-five youth runners (116 boys and 139 girls) participated in this study. The athletes were divided according to their age into five groups: under 8 yr (U8), under 10 yr (U10), under 12 yr (U12), under 14 yr (U14) and under 16 yr (U16). Significant differences (p < 0.01) were found between U8 and U10 in the 5 m sprint (d = 1.22), 505 agility test (505, d = 0.96), modified agility test (MAT, d = 1.43), horizontal countermovement jump (HCMJ, d = 1.06) and arm swing HCMJ (HCMJAS, d = 1.44); between U10 and U12 in the 505 (d = 0.39), MAT (d = 0.74), HCMJ (d = 0.96) and HCMJAS (d = 0.75); and between U12 and U14 in 5 m (d = 0.84), HCMJ (d = 0.88) and HCMJAS (d = 0.79). However, no significant differences (p > 0.05, d = 0.29-1.17) between U14 and U16 were observed in any of the tests. With regard to age and gender, in U8 and U10 groups there were no significant differences (p > 0.05, d = 0.02-0.76) between boys and girls in any test. However, in U12 and U14 groups, significant gender differences (p < 0.05, d = 0.85-1.24) were found in the MAT. Likewise, the boys obtained better results than girls in the horizontal jump tests (p < 0.05, d = 1.01-1.26). After the classification by age, some differences were observed between both genders, depending on the fitness variable evaluated.