A comparison of Olympic and Paralympic performances

Percy, DF ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2733-3855 2019, 'A comparison of Olympic and Paralympic performances' , Journal of the Operational Research Society, 70 (3) , pp. 446-458.

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Abstract

In 2012, Oscar Pistorius created history as the first amputee sprinter to compete in the Olympics. Other athletes achieved amazing feats long before the Paralympics were introduced, including gymnast George Eyser who won six medals at the 1904 Olympics with a wooden leg, and others who competed in both Games. An exciting challenge of considerable interest is to compare performances of Olympic and Paralympic athletes, so contributing to improving integration of the two competitions.

We generalize the recent dynamic shrinkage method for class handicapping and apply it to competition results from equestrian individual dressage at the London 2012 Summer Games and cross country skiing at the Sochi 2014 Winter Games. Our analysis generates promising results and surprising revelations. It also offers a fair method for comparing performances by athletes from other diverse groups, with potential benefits of extra incentive and reward systems for motivating unified sporting participation in general settings.

Item Type:	Article
Schools:	Schools > Salford Business School
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of the Operational Research Society
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
ISSN:	0160-5682
Related URLs:	Publication
Depositing User:	Professor D. F. Percy
Date Deposited:	20 Feb 2018 14:17
Last Modified:	29 Nov 2019 13:00
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/46106

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