A Long-Term Study of Aerobic Performance in Elite Cross-Country Skiers: How Age and Sex Influence Career Development

作者：E. Bucher, J. Wehrlin, Grégoire P. Millet, Thomas Steiner · 发表于：Current Issues in Sport Science (CISS) · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.36950/2025.2ciss045

Introduction Elite cross-country (XC) skiers undergo standardized testing to monitor their performance development and to calibrate training prescriptions. However, the long-term progression of performance indicators, such as maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), performance at the second lactate threshold (LT2), and time-trial performance over an athlete's career remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the longitudinal data from > 15 years of exercise testing with the Swiss XC ski national team to examine the trajectories of key performance indicators across the careers of male and female skiers. Methods The longitudinal development of VO2max, LT2, and 24-minute double poling performance (24-min DP), described in further detail elsewhere (Bucher et al., 2023), was analyzed in 72 male and 49 female current and former Swiss XC-ski national team athletes. The performance trajectories were modeled using mixed-effects approaches, with a linear random intercept for VO2max, a linear random slope for LT2, and a third-degree polynomial for 24-min DP. Fixed effects included age, sex, and their interaction, with random effects at the individual level. The study included 357 observations (n = 27 females, 48 males) for VO2max, 911 (n = 46 females, 65 males) for LT2, and 601 (n = 49 females, 70 males) for 24-min DP. Results VO2max in females tended to increase by 0.16 mL/kg/min per year (p=0.085), with no increase in males (0.03 ml/kg/min, p=0.627). Males had a higher baseline VO2max a...