Anthropometry of Olympic Athletes from Sochi 2014
The database of athlete details from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics provides the opportunity to compare athletes from a range of elite winter sports. The database contained information about their height, weight, age, sport and country. I have analyzed this data below, comparing the male and females for each measurement, and also comparing the data for each sport.
Height of Olympic Athletes
The tallest athletes in 2014 were from ice hockey - Zdeno Chara from Slovakia was 206cm, and for females Rosa Lindstedt from Finland was 1.86m. The shortest at 146cm were Figure Skaters Narumi Takahashi from Japan (female) and Canadian Liam Firus (male).
| Average | Minimum | Maximum | n | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males | cm | 181 | 146 | 206 | 1652 |
| ft, inches | 5' 11" | 4' 9.5" | 6' 9" | ||
| Females | cm | 167 | 146 | 186 | 1113 |
| ft, inches | 5' 5.5" | 4' 9.5" | 6' 1" | ||
| All | cm | 175 | 146 | 206 | 2765 |
| ft, inches | 5' 9" | 4' 9.5" | 6' 9" |
Weight of Olympic Athletes
The heaviest male athlete was Zdeno Chara from Slovakia at 117kg (he was also the tallest athlete at the Games). The lightest was 47 kg freestyle skier Luca Schuler from Switzerland.
| Average | Minimum | Maximum | n | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males | kg | 80.7 | 47 | 117 | 1525 |
| lbs | 177.9 | 104 | 258 | ||
| Females | kg | 61.7 | 43 | 87 | 990 |
| lbs | 136.0 | 95 | 192 | ||
| All | kg | 73.2 | 43 | 117 | 2515 |
| lbs | 161.4 | 95 | 258 |
BMI of Olympic Athletes
Body Mass Index (BMI) is a commonly used measure of fatness, calculated by dividing body mass (in kg) by the height (in meters) squared.
| Average | Minimum | Maximum | n | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males | 24.6 | 17.6 | 32.8 | 1525 |
| Females | 21.9 | 16.2 | 28.6 | 990 |
| All | 23.5 | 16.2 | 32.8 | 2515 |
Age (Years)
The oldest athlete to compete was Alpine Skier Hubertus Von Hohenlohe from Mexico who was 55 years old. At the other end of the scale, there were many 15-year-olds who competed.
| Average | Minimum | Maximum | n | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males | 26.4 | 15 | 55 | 1705 |
| Females | 25.1 | 15 | 48 | 1162 |
| All | 25.9 | 15 | 55 | 2867 |
Breakdown Per Sport
Here are the averages for each sport at the 2014 Winter Olympics. There are tables for both male and female athletes for each sport.
The sport with the oldest competitors (male and female) was curling with an average age of 29.7 years, and the youngest was figure skating at 23.4 years. Bobsled was the sport with the greatest average height (1.82m), the lowest was figure skating (1.69m).
Male Athlete Details
| Sport | Age | Height (cm) | Weight (kg) | BMI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVERALL AVERAGE (all sports) | 26.4 | 1.81 | 80.7 | 24.6 |
| Alpine Skiing | 25.5 | 1.80 | 82.4 | 25.3 |
| Biathlon | 27.6 | 1.80 | 72.9 | 22.6 |
| Bobsled | 28.9 | 1.85 | 98.3 | 28.8 |
| Cross Country Skiing | 27.1 | 1.80 | 74.7 | 22.9 |
| Curling | 29.6 | 1.80 | 82.1 | 25.3 |
| Figure Skating | 24.8 | 1.77 | - | - |
| Freestyle Skiing | 23.7 | 1.77 | 76.0 | 24.1 |
| Hockey | 28.3 | 1.85 | 90.5 | 26.4 |
| Nordic Combined | 26.1 | 1.79 | 66.1 | 20.9 |
| Luge | 25.4 | 1.81 | 82.0 | 25.0 |
| Short-Track Skating | 23.9 | 1.76 | 71.5 | 22.9 |
| Skeleton | 28.5 | 1.82 | 81.0 | 24.4 |
| Ski Jumping | 25.1 | 1.78 | 63.5 | 20.1 |
| Snowboarding | 24.5 | 1.79 | 75.8 | 23.7 |
| Speedskating | 25.5 | 1.80 | 77.4 | 23.8 |
Female Athlete Details
| Sport | Age | Height (cm) | Weight (kg) | BMI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVERALL AVERAGE (all sports) | 25.1 | 1.67 | 61.7 | 21.9 |
| Alpine Skiing | 24.2 | 1.69 | 64.7 | 22.7 |
| Biathlon | 26.0 | 1.66 | 57.1 | 20.6 |
| Bobsled | 28.5 | 1.73 | 74.7 | 24.9 |
| XC Skiing | 27.0 | 1.67 | 58.1 | 20.8 |
| Curling | 29.9 | 1.66 | 63.8 | 22.2 |
| Figure Skating | 22.1 | 1.60 | - | - |
| Freestyle Skiing | 24.2 | 1.65 | 58.9 | 21.5 |
| Hockey | 24.3 | 1.68 | 65.6 | 23.1 |
| Luge | 22.9 | 1.72 | 68.7 | 23.3 |
| Short-Track Skating | 23.6 | 1.66 | 57.2 | 20.8 |
| Skeleton | 27.2 | 1.67 | 61.8 | 22.1 |
| Ski Jumping | 21.4 | 1.65 | 53.0 | 19.6 |
| Snowboarding | 24.9 | 1.67 | 60.7 | 21.8 |
| Speedskating | 25.8 | 1.69 | 62.5 | 21.8 |
The Database
The original data was sourced from the official Olympic Games website Sochi2014.com. There were 2867 names, from 88 countries and representing 15 sports. Here is an excel database with all the data. The data supplied was name, country, sport, sex, height, weight, age. I also calculated BMI. Height was in centimeters, weight in kilograms (to the nearest kg) and age in whole years. Not all data was complete - weight data is unavailable for figure skaters and available for only a few curlers, and also note that women don't participate in Nordic Combined events.
Related Pages
- Athlete data from the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics
- Athlete data from the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympic Games
- Science and the Summer Olympic Games
- Anthropometry at the Winter Olympics
- Anthropometry at the Summer Olympics
- Sport Specific Anthropometry
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
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