Cadet and Junior Performance Is Associated With Senior's World Championship and Olympics Achievement in Judo

• Published in: Research quarterly for exercise and sport Vol. 95; no. 1; pp. 54 - 59
• Main Authors: Junior, Marcelo Naname, Lopes-Silva, João Paulo, Takito, Monica Yuri, Franchini, Emerson
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Routledge 02.01.2024
• Subjects: Athlete development; combat sports; grappling; sport specialization; combat sports; grappling; Athlete development; sport specialization
• ISSN: 0270-1367; 2168-3824; 2168-3824
• DOI: 10.1080/02701367.2022.2147477

Purpose: We determined whether cadet and junior Judo World Championship participation and medal achievement would predict senior performance at World Championship (WC) and Olympic Games (OG). Methods: We analyzed retrospectively a total of 7780 athletes who competed at the OG and WC in the cadet, junior, and senior between 2009 and 2021. Results: There was an increase in the probability of winning a medal in the senior category (WC and OG, and only WC) ranged from 4.3 to 4.5 for medal-winning cadets compared to non-medalists and this probability remained around 3.3-3.8 for medalists in the male and 5.3-5.4 for the female medalists in cadet WC. Moreover, the chance of winning a medal in the senior category (WC and OG) was 8.1-8.5 times greater for medalists when compared to non-medalists in the junior WC. In turn, the probability of winning a medal in the senior (WC) was 1.5-1.7 times greater for athletes who did not compete in the junior WC. In the OG, the probability of winning a medal was 3.5 greater times for medalists when compared to non-medalists at cadet and junior WC. Conclusion: Thus, being a cadet or junior WC medalist increases the probability of winning a senior WC or an Olympic medal.