Body composition and somatotype of elite 10 kilometers race walking athletes

The somatotype of athletes has been determined for many sports. However, there are few reports on race walkers and even fewer on female athletes. The aim of this study was to describe the body composition and somatotype of young elite 10km race walkers. Twenty females aged 17.2 ±1.14 and 10 males aged 19.45 ±4.30, who competed in the XVII Pan American Race Walking Cup, were evaluated. Their weight, height, body mass index (BMI) and percentage of body fat (%BF) were recorded. The Heath-Carter method was used to determine the somatotype. In male, the mean values for BMI (20.58 ±0.35), %BF (7.64 ±1.55) and somatotype (2.34 ±0.89; 3.33 ±0.92; 3.39 ±0.66) are reported. For female, the mean values for BMI (20.67 ±0.55), %BF (13.94 ±3.66) and somatotype (3.11 ±1.26; 3.04 ±1.08; 2.93 ±1.24) were also determined. Males presented a significantly lower %BF. In addition, females had a significantly greater endomorphic component than males. Performance was better in males than in females (47min 53s vs 52min 34s). It is concluded that there are significant differences by sex in the body composition and somatotype of these young elite Pan American athletes. The characteristics of elite race walkers by sex provide relevant information that can be assistive to coaches or sport science professionals during the training of these athletes.