Objective To provide normative values of physical fitness in Paralympic winter sports athletes competing in a sitting posture and to identify the components relevant for successful performance. Design Cross-sectional study with sports. Setting The Institute of Sports Medicine and Science of the Italian National Olympic Committee (Rome, Italy). Participants Fifteen Alpine skiers (3 BP), 16 Nordic skiers (2 BP), 10 curlers (2 BP), and 34 ISH players (7 BP). Independent Variables Curling, Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, and ice sledge hockey (ISH). Main Outcome Measures Physical fitness components. Oxygen uptake peak (V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak; L·min-1 and mL·kg-1·min-1), mechanical work in a high-intensity exhaustion exercise (MW-HIE; kJ and kJ·kg-1), upper-body strength (N and N·kg-1), mean explosive power (MEP; W and W·kg-1) in a 10-second arm cranking ergometer Wingate test, and fat mass (FM) (% body mass) were primary outcome measures when assessed in the whole sport groups and secondary outcome measures when separating the BP from the others. Results Based on 1-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc test (P < 0.05), V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak and MW-HIE were highest in Nordic skiers (2.9 ± 0.53 L·min-1 and 18.3 ± 3.98 kJ) and similar in ISH players and Alpine skiers (2.5 ± 0.42 and 2.3 ± 0.44 L·min-1 and 17.4 ± 2.62 and 16.8 ± 7.41 kJ, respectively). Alpine skiers showed the highest absolute strength values (1210.1 ± 220.92 N). Curlers had the highest FM (26.2% ± 7.74%) and the lowest V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak (1.8 ± 0.35 L·min-1), MW-HIE (11.4 ± 2.40 kJ), and MEP (251.1 ± 67.16 W). Among the BP, Nordic skiers, ISH players, and Alpine skiers showed V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak, MW-HIE, and strength equal to 3.4 ± 0.43, 2.9 ± 0.38, and 2.8 ± 0.18 L·min-1 and 22.6 ± 4.04, 19.4 ± 2.84, and 18.4 ± 7.86 kJ, respectively. Conclusions Analyzing physical fitness data of athletes competing in the last 4 winter Paralympic Games, normative values are provided. The specific components that are highly developed in the BP are considered relevant for successful performance.
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