Tactical behaviors in men’s and women’s middle-distance global championship track finals

Purpose: To analyze tactical behaviors associated with performance in track middle- distance global championship finals. Methods: Finalists’ season-best (SB), finishing race time (RT), 100m section times, and intermediate positions were obtained from 800-m and 1500-m men’s and women’s finals in two Olympic Games and five World Championships. Differences between medalists (M), fourth to eighth (T8), and ninth to 12th/13th (T12) ranked finalists in relative performance (relative to SB), RT and section times were determined. Pearson correlations between intermediate position and section speed with final position, and probability of winning a medal at each race point were calculated. Results: A very high correlation was found between intermediate and final position at first 100m in the women’s 800-m (r = 0.84;p = 0.008), which was maintained throughout the race. M were relatively faster than T8 in men’s and women’s 800-m finals
(p = 0.006;d = 0.87, and p = 0.039;d = 0.59, respectively). Differences in relative performance between groups in 1500-m finals appeared at the end of the race, although they arose earlier in women’s races. Probability of winning a medal decreased with lower intermediate positions, especially in the latest race stages. Conclusions: A high intermediate position as well as the ability to run fast in the latest race stages seem critical to medaling in track middle-distance global championship finals. The abilities to adopt leading positions for the whole 800-m event, and to generate an endspurt, relatively faster than the rest of competitors, in the 1500-m event, are critical.