Maximal aerobic capacity in the winter-Olympics endurance disciplines: Olympic-medal benchmarks for the time period 1990-2013.

PURPOSE: To generate updated Olympic-medal benchmarks for VO2max in winter endurance disciplines, examine possible differences in VO2max between medalists and nonmedalists, and calculate gender difference in V˙ O2max based on a homogeneous subset of world-leading endurance athletes.
METHODS: The authors identified 111 athletes who participated in winter Olympic Games/World Championships in the period 1990 to 2013. All identified athletes tested VO2max at the Norwegian Olympic Training Center within ±1 y of their championship performance. Testing procedures were consistent throughout the entire period.
RESULTS: For medal-winning athletes, the following relative VO2max values (mean:95% confidence intervals) for men/women were observed (mL · min-1 · kg-1): 84:87-81/72:77-68 for cross-country distance skiing, 78:81-75/68:73-64 for cross-country sprint skiing, 81:84-78/67:73-61 for biathlon, and 77:80-75 for Nordic combined (men only). Similar benchmarks for absolute VO2max (L/min) in male/female athletes are 6.4:6.1-6.7/4.3:4.1-4.5 for cross-country distance skiers, 6.3:5.8-6.8/4.0:3.7-4.3 for cross-country sprint skiers, 6.2:5.7-6.4/4.0:3.7-4.3 for biathletes, and 5.3:5.0-5.5 for Nordic combined (men only). The difference in relative VO2max between medalists and nonmedalists was large for Nordic combined, moderate for cross-country distance and biathlon, and small/trivial for the other disciplines. Corresponding differences in absolute VO2max were small/trivial for all disciplines. Male cross-country medalists achieve 15% higher relative VO2max than corresponding women.
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides updated benchmark VO2max values for Olympic-medal-level performance in winter endurance disciplines and can serve as a guideline of the requirements for future elite athletes.