Analysis of Olympic and World boxing medalists from 1904 to 2019: The role of age, height, weight categories and nationality

Study aim: To investigate the role of age, height, and weight categories on the performance of top nations and boxing medalists in Olympic Games (OG) (1904–2018) and World Championships (WG) (1974–2019).

Material and methods: Data were collected from 1,806 athletes using the website of International Boxing Association (AIBA), International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Wikipedia.

Results: The average age of medalists was ~24yrs with an increase of age (medium effect) across this 115 years period. Height was 1.76m and the super heavy category had significantly higher values by age and height compared to the other weight categories. The top medalists were three men with triple gold medals on OG and 13 over three on WC. Performance was associated with nationality (p < 0.01, medium effect), where a dominance of Cubans (211 medals) was observed.

Conclusion: These findings highlighted the importance of the long-term development and specialization of talent athletes for peak performance in elite competitions.