In the master's thesis, we determined the correlation between the results of the Ironman test battery and the competitive performance of Slovenian female alpine skiers. The Ironman test battery is used to assess aerobic and anaerobic endurance, strength, agility and coordination, and speed. Research shows that it is an effective indicator of the achievement of physical capacity of competitors for success in alpine skiing. Success in alpine skiing is evaluated by the total number of points achieved in International Ski Federation (FIS) competitions at the end of the current ski season. All Slovenian female alpine ski competitors who competed in FIS competitions in the 2018/2019 season were included in the study. The subjects were divided into three age groups. The correlation between individual variables of the Ironman test battery and performance in FIS competitions was determined by calculating the Pears' correlation coefficient. The correlation between the state of physical capacity, or the final assessment of the state of the entire set of Ironman variables, and performance in competitions was determined by multiple regression analysis. In the first group of measurements (1/15-17), we found that among the individual variables of the Ironman test battery, the variables Hexagon test (HEX; p = 0,05) and Trunk lifts (VZDKT; p = 0,01) were statistically significantly associated with performance in FIS competitions. In the same group of measurements, we also confirmed the statistically significant association of the final state assessments of the entire set of Ironman variables with competitive performance (IRON; p = 0,01) using regression analysis. In the second group of measurements (2/18+), none of the individual variables of the Ironman battery was statistically significantly associated with performance in FIS competitions. In this group of measurements, the calculation of the regression analysis also did not show a statistically significant association with performance. In the third group of measurements (3/all), we found that only the variable Trunk lifts (VZDKT; p = 0,02) was statistically significantly associated with performance in FIS competitions. In the third group of measurements, we also confirmed a statistically significant (p<0,00) correlation with competitive performance using regression analysis.
Based on the findings, we can conclude that the Ironman test battery is a potentially effective indicator of the level of physical performance for achieving competitive performance in alpine skiing.
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