THE RELATIVE AGE EFFECT IN COMBAT SPORTS: AN ANALYSIS OF OLYMPIC JUDO ATHLETE…

Summary .— This study assessed the relative age eff ect (RAE) in judo athletes who participated in the Olympic Games from 1964 to 2012. The names and birthdates of the Olympic judo athletes were collected from open-access websites. Data from male ( n = 1,762) and female ( n = 665) competitors were analyzed separately. Chi-squared tests were performed to investigate REA in medalists, and by w…