{"id":118,"date":"2015-12-28T23:36:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-28T21:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biathlon.cu.ma\/blog\/?p=118"},"modified":"2020-10-11T02:44:58","modified_gmt":"2020-10-11T00:44:58","slug":"ski-speed-over-the-last-14-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.realbiathlon.com\/blog\/index.php\/2015\/12\/28\/ski-speed-over-the-last-14-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Ski Speed over the last 14 years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here’s how the average ski speed of the World Cup top 40 evolved in the last 14 years. Keep in mind I can only approximate the speed through course times and course length; this is not a very precise method (minor mistakes should cancel each other out over the course of a season though). The top 40 athletes should be affected almost equally by possible methodical errors. Thus the speed values might be off by a few decimals, but the comparability season-to-season is still there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The skiing speed of the men’s top 40 is getting (a lot) faster. Since 2001\u201302, both the median and the average speed of the top 40 increased by 1.7 km\/h. The median skier in 2014\u201315 (25.8 km\/h) was faster than the top skier in 2001\u201302 (25.1 km\/h). All quartiles show a clear upwards trend. Percentage-wise, the ski speed of the median skier improved by about 7.1 %.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top 40<\/td> 2001
\u201302<\/td>		  2002
\u201303<\/td>		  2003
\u201304<\/td>		  2004
\u201305<\/td>		  2005
\u201306<\/td>		  2006
\u201307<\/td>		  2007
\u201308<\/td>		  2008
\u201309<\/td>		  2009
\u201310<\/td>		  2010
\u201311<\/td>		  2011
\u201312<\/td>		  2012
\u201313<\/td>		  2013
\u201314<\/td>		  2014
\u201315<\/td>		   Diff. <\/td><\/tr>
Maximum<\/td>25.1<\/td>25.3<\/td>24.9<\/td>25.3<\/td>25.2<\/td>25.6<\/td>26.1<\/td>25.7<\/td>25.9<\/td>25.7<\/td>25.9<\/td>26.4<\/td>26.6<\/td>26.2<\/td>+1.1<\/td><\/tr>
1st quartile<\/td>24.4<\/td>24.5<\/td>24.2<\/td>24.5<\/td>24.5<\/td>24.8<\/td>25.5<\/td>25.3<\/td>25.4<\/td>25.2<\/td>25.3<\/td>25.9<\/td>25.9<\/td>25.9<\/td>+1.5<\/td><\/tr>
Median<\/strong><\/td>24.1<\/strong><\/td>24.4<\/strong><\/td>24.0<\/strong><\/td>24.3<\/strong><\/td>24.3<\/strong><\/td>24.6<\/strong><\/td>25.2<\/strong><\/td>25.1<\/strong><\/td>25.2<\/strong><\/td>24.8<\/strong><\/td>25.1<\/strong><\/td>25.7<\/strong><\/td>25.7<\/strong><\/td>25.8<\/strong><\/td>+1.7<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
3rd quartile<\/td>23.7<\/td>24.3<\/td>23.6<\/td>24.1<\/td>24.1<\/td>24.5<\/td>25.0<\/td>24.7<\/td>25.0<\/td>24.7<\/td>24.9<\/td>25.4<\/td>25.6<\/td>25.6<\/td>+1.9<\/td><\/tr>
Minimum<\/td>22.1<\/td>23.6<\/td>22.9<\/td>22.7<\/td>23.5<\/td>23.9<\/td>24.2<\/td>24.4<\/td>24.6<\/td>24.1<\/td>24.4<\/td>25.0<\/td>25.1<\/td>24.9<\/td>+2.7<\/td><\/tr>
Men<\/strong><\/td>2001
\u201302<\/td>		2002
\u201303<\/td>		2003
\u201304<\/td>		2004
\u201305<\/td>		2005
\u201306<\/td>		2006
\u201307<\/td>		2007
\u201308<\/td>		2008
\u201309<\/td>		2009
\u201310<\/td>		2010
\u201311<\/td>		2011
\u201312<\/td>		2012
\u201313<\/td>		2013
\u201314<\/td>		2014
\u201315<\/td>		Diff.<\/td><\/tr>
Top 10 avg<\/td>24.5<\/td>24.7<\/td>24.4<\/td>24.6<\/td>24.6<\/td>24.9<\/td>25.6<\/td>25.3<\/td>25.6<\/td>25.4<\/td>25.4<\/td>26.0<\/td>25.8<\/td>26.0<\/td>+1.5<\/td><\/tr>
Top 20 avg<\/td>24.3<\/td>24.5<\/td>24.3<\/td>24.5<\/td>24.5<\/td>24.8<\/td>25.4<\/td>25.2<\/td>25.4<\/td>25.2<\/td>25.3<\/td>25.9<\/td>25.8<\/td>25.9<\/td>+1.6<\/td><\/tr>
Top 40 avg<\/strong><\/td>24.1<\/td>24.4<\/td>24.0<\/td>24.3<\/td>24.3<\/td>24.7<\/td>25.2<\/td>25.0<\/td>25.2<\/td>24.9<\/td>25.1<\/td>25.7<\/td>25.7<\/td>25.8<\/td>+1.7<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Top 60 avg<\/td>23.7<\/td>24.3<\/td>23.9<\/td>24.1<\/td>24.2<\/td>24.5<\/td>25.1<\/td>24.8<\/td>25.1<\/td>24.7<\/td>25.0<\/td>25.5<\/td>25.6<\/td>25.6<\/td>+1.9<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
All values are average speed in km\/h;  Diff.\u2013difference between 2001\u201302 and 2014\u201315 seasons<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The chart for the women looks distinctively different. The ski speed of the top 40’s median skier increased by 1.0 km\/h since 2001\u201302 (+4.7%). During the first 5 years the speed actually declined. The fastest skier has been pretty stable (between 22.8 km\/h and 23.1 km\/h) for 6 years in a row (2007-2012), before hitting new all-time highs in the last two seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big ups and downs in the women’s chart could have reasons beyond pure ski form, e.g. changes in the women’s course difficulty year-to-year, or it could just be a statistical anomaly. I can’t fully explain the curve. It’s possible the courses have slowly been brought in line with the more difficult laps of the men during the first half of the last decade?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top 40<\/td> 2001
\u201302<\/td>		  2002
\u201303<\/td>		  2003
\u201304<\/td>		  2004
\u201305<\/td>		  2005
\u201306<\/td>		  2006
\u201307<\/td>		  2007
\u201308<\/td>		  2008
\u201309<\/td>		  2009
\u201310<\/td>		  2010
\u201311<\/td>		  2011
\u201312<\/td>		  2012
\u201313<\/td>		  2013
\u201314<\/td>		  2014
\u201315<\/td>		   Diff. <\/td><\/tr>
Maximum<\/td>22.5<\/td>21.9<\/td>22.5<\/td>21.5<\/td>21.6<\/td>21.9<\/td>22.8<\/td>22.8<\/td>22.9<\/td>23.0<\/td>23.0<\/td>23.1<\/td>23.3<\/td>23.6<\/td>+1.1<\/td><\/tr>
1st quartile<\/td>21.9<\/td>21.2<\/td>21.3<\/td>21.0<\/td>20.9<\/td>21.1<\/td>21.9<\/td>22.3<\/td>22.3<\/td>22.2<\/td>22.1<\/td>22.3<\/td>22.6<\/td>22.8<\/td>+0.9<\/td><\/tr>
Median<\/strong><\/td>21.3<\/strong><\/td>21.0<\/strong><\/td>21.0<\/strong><\/td>20.6<\/strong><\/td>20.6<\/strong><\/td>20.8<\/strong><\/td>21.5<\/strong><\/td>21.9<\/strong><\/td>22.1<\/strong><\/td>21.9<\/strong><\/td>21.8<\/strong><\/td>21.9<\/strong><\/td>22.4<\/strong><\/td>22.3<\/strong><\/td>+1.0<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
3rd quartile<\/td>21.0<\/td>20.7<\/td>20.7<\/td>20.4<\/td>20.4<\/td>20.7<\/td>21.3<\/td>21.5<\/td>21.8<\/td>21.3<\/td>21.5<\/td>21.8<\/td>22.2<\/td>22.1<\/td>-1.0<\/td><\/tr>
Minimum<\/td>20.2<\/td>20.2<\/td>19.8<\/td>19.2<\/td>19.8<\/td>19.9<\/td>20.8<\/td>20.8<\/td>20.8<\/td>20.8<\/td>21.0<\/td>21.0<\/td>22.0<\/td>21.7<\/td>-1.5<\/td><\/tr>
Women<\/strong><\/td>2001
\u201302<\/td>		2002
\u201303<\/td>		2003
\u201304<\/td>		2004
\u201305<\/td>		2005
\u201306<\/td>		2006
\u201307<\/td>		2007
\u201308<\/td>		2008
\u201309<\/td>		2009
\u201310<\/td>		2010
\u201311<\/td>		2011
\u201312<\/td>		2012
\u201313<\/td>		2013
\u201314<\/td>		2014
\u201315<\/td>		Diff.<\/td><\/tr>
Top 10 avg<\/td>22.0<\/td>21.3<\/td>21.6<\/td>21.1<\/td>21.0<\/td>21.3<\/td>22.1<\/td>22.5<\/td>22.4<\/td>22.4<\/td>22.4<\/td>22.6<\/td>22.8<\/td>23.0<\/td>+1.1<\/td><\/tr>
Top 20 avg<\/td>21.8<\/td>21.2<\/td>21.3<\/td>20.9<\/td>20.8<\/td>21.1<\/td>21.9<\/td>22.2<\/td>22.3<\/td>22.3<\/td>22.1<\/td>22.3<\/td>22.6<\/td>22.8<\/td>+1.0<\/td><\/tr>
Top 40 avg<\/strong><\/td>21.4<\/td>21.0<\/td>21.0<\/td>20.6<\/td>20.6<\/td>20.9<\/td>21.6<\/td>21.9<\/td>22.0<\/td>21.8<\/td>21.8<\/td>22.0<\/td>22.4<\/td>22.4<\/td>+1.0<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Top 60 avg<\/td>21.1<\/td>20.7<\/td>20.7<\/td>20.4<\/td>20.4<\/td>20.7<\/td>21.5<\/td>21.7<\/td>21.8<\/td>21.7<\/td>21.6<\/td>21.8<\/td>22.3<\/td>22.3<\/td>+1.2<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
All values are average speed in km\/h;  Diff.\u2013difference between 2001\u201302 and 2014\u201315 seasons<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Comparing skiing performances over longer periods is always tricky, certainly more difficult than comparing shooting results. The ski speed is not only affected by the courses (which is a major factor, since World Cup locations change every year), but also by weather. Three or four races during heavy snow fall for example will have a huge impact on the season average.
The increase of ski speed in just 14 years \u2013 4.7% for the women, 7.1% for the men \u2013 is substantial. However, a good part of that probably comes down to technology: better working conditions due to waxing trucks, but also general advancements of ski manufacturers and modern waxes will have played its part. The top woman today (23.6 km\/h) is just as fast or faster than the slowest male skier before 2006\u201307 (on easier courses though).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s how the average ski speed of the World Cup top 40 evolved in the last 14 years. Keep in mind I can only approximate the speed through course times and course length; this is not a very precise method (minor mistakes should cancel each other out over the course of a season though). The top 40 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8],"class_list":["post-118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-long-term-trends","tag-skiing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realbiathlon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realbiathlon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realbiathlon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realbiathlon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realbiathlon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.realbiathlon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213,"href":"https:\/\/www.realbiathlon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions\/213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realbiathlon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realbiathlon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realbiathlon.com\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}