| . . . . . . Indoors Versus Outdoors Review | ||||
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So how do the performances of the boys and girls indoors compare to those of the outdoor season? The outdoor season would be expected to have some sizable advantages since there are far more athletes competing during the spring, athletes generally develop a little more as the year progresses, they are usually breathing a higher quality air than is present in many indoor venues, and runners have fewer turns to navigate in all events longer than the straightaway sprints. The indoor has some probably more minor advantages, but there are some indoor tracks that have very springy and surfaces and banked turns to augment the pace, and unless there are some drastic issues with an arena's roof and heating system, indoor athletes don't have to battle ferocious head-winds, driving rain, or blistering heat on an energy-sapping humid day. Only nine of the events have basically similar distances or formats in both seasons, though of course the distance events and two relays listed below are run on different sized tracks during indoor and outdoor season. The averages are the combined totals for all the years' Top 15 or Leaders in the comparisons by events, and average totals are in seconds or inches. If all things were equal, you can say outdoor runners have at least a few seconds advantage in all the running events, and the horizontal event jumpers go a half-foot to a foot further. However, the outdoor advantage pretty much disappears for the high jump, pole vault, and shot put among the Leaders contestants. In fact, the guys indoor Leaders in the pole vault and shot put actually outshone their outdoor counterparts. For them, having a roof over their head seems to be a good thing.
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Battle of the Years EventsClick to Snap toGroup 1: Sprints - Group 2: Mid DistanceGroup 3: Long Distance - Group 4: HurdlesGroup 5: Horizontal Jumps - Group 6: Vertical Jumps and VaultsGroup 7: Throws - Group 8: Relays - Meet Wrap-upSummary by Athlete - Summary by Team - Summary by SectionIndoor Versus Outdoor Comparison - Boys Versus Girls Comparison |
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