A COMPARISON OF RUNNING KINEMATICS BETWEEN TOP 6 AND HONG KONG ELITE TRIATHLETES IN 2008 ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Abstract

Triathlon is a multi-sport endurance event consists of swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession between disciplines. A distinguishing feature of running in triathlon is the athlete may need to tolerate fatigue condition and lactate accumulation after exercising two disciplines for an extended period of time. Also, a sudden change of muscle group usage from cycling to running may cause a poor running form in the triathletes. Running is the last discipline in triathlon competition. According to the experience of the coaches, running performance had great effect on the overall result. In order to gather information on the performance of the athletes, on site data collection in high-level competition was conducted. The purpose of this study was to quantify the running kinematics of the triathletes and to determine the running kinematic difference between top 6 male triathletes in running event and HK elite triathletes in 2008 Asian Championships. This information could provide an updated reference on the performance of the Asian top triathletes. Based on the individual result, the strengths and weaknesses in each athlete were identified and specific training program could be provided for skill correction.