INTRODUCTION: In the Moguls, competitors are evaluated on three basic components: Turns (50%), Air (25%) and Speed (25%). The purpose of this study is to analyze the time results and the points awarded to competitors at the Vancouver 2010 Ladies' Moguls, to determine whether a particular section or component of the course was important to the result of the event. METHOD: The Ladies' Moguls final in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics games was analyzed. Using the video of the competition, the times of the five sections of each competitor's run were measured. The sections include: 1) Start to top of 1st air bump (Top); 2) top of 1st air bump to landing the 1st air (Ist air); 3) landing the 1st air to top of the 2nd air bump (Middle); 4) top of the 2nd air bump to landing the 2nd air (2nd air); 5) landing the 2nd air to finish line (Bottom). To analyze the time, data were classified in two groups: medalists (n = 3) and non-medalists (n = 13). Statistical difference was determined by the two-sided Mann-Whitney's U lest. To evaluate correlations among total points, turn points, air points and speed points, the data were examined by the Pearson correlation coefficient test. Differences with p < 0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: The times of the Top section, Middle section and Total times of medalists were significantly shorter in comparison with non-medalists (p < 0.001) (Tablel). There was a significant (p < 0.001) strong correlation between Time points and Turn points (r = 0.836). There was no correlation between Turn points and Top section time; however, there was significant (p < 0.001) strong correlation between Turn points and Middle section time. DISCUSSION: The results suggest that performing well on the Middle section of the Vancouver course was very important in winning the Ladies' Moguls event. Competitors needed both speed and good turn technique in the Middle section. More speed in the Middle section also enabled the skiers to do bigger and more difficult airs at the 2nd air bump. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that the performance of the Middle section was very important for the result of the Ladies' Moguls competition. Skiing faster with good turns in the Middle section of the course led to medal wins.
© Copyright 2010 Book of Abstracts. 5th International Congress on Science and Skiing, Dec. 14 - 19, 2010, St. Christoph am Arlberg. Veröffentlicht von University of Salzburg, Interfakultärer Fachbereich Sport- und Bewegungswissenschaft/USI. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.