Paratriathlon Race Performance in High-Level Athletes With Visual Impairments: A Retrospective Analysis

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare time-trial performances in elite paratriathlon athletes, according to visual classes, sex, and medal distribution.

Design: The data were acquired from official books on Para Triathlon World Cups (2018-2020). The sample included 150 athletes with visual impairment, in classes: PTVI1, PTVI2, and PTVI3. One-way analysis of variance, the Student t test, and χ 2 were used to compare the performance variables and association between visual impairment classes and distribution of medals within different visual impairment classes.

Results: Sex comparisons demonstrated better performance for male athletes compared with female athletes ( P < 0.05). In the sex-specific analysis, only cycling velocity was higher for female, being lower for PTVI1 compared with PTVI3 ( P = 0.012). In visual impairment class results, the first transition time was higher for PTVI1 compared with PTVI2 ( P = 0.050) and PTVI3 ( P = 0.027) and, in the second transition, higher for PTVI1 compared with PTVI2 ( P = 0.001). The χ 2 test showed a higher percentage of gold medals for PTVI3 athletes considering the whole group ( P = 0.050).

Conclusions: These results indicate that male athletes have better performance than female athletes. PTVI1 female athletes showed lower cycling velocity compared with PTVI3. Considering both male and female groups, blind athletes presented higher transition times and a lower percentage of medals.