Who's Faster - Men or Women?
and by how much?
I found this in the Nuzzo Weekly Roundup which is part of the Nuzzo Letter Substack. Dr Nuzzo knows more about sex differences in exercise than anyone I know. He linked to a study and I have copied the results and conclusions below. It tells a story. Anyone wanting to see the entire study can go here.
ResultsÂ
Males ran faster than females at every age in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 m (P < 0.001). When combining all running events, the sex difference (%) was 4.0 ± 1.7% between 7-12 years and increased to 6.3 ± 1.1% at 13 years, and 12.6 ± 1.8% at 18 years (P < 0.001). Similarly, males jumped higher and farther than females at every age (P < 0.001). For long jump, the sex difference was 6.8 ± 2.8% between 7-12 years, increasing to 8.5 ± 1.7% at 13 years, and 22.7 ± 1.4% at 18 years (P < 0.001). For high jump, the sex difference was 5.3 ± 5.2% between 7-12 years, increasing to 12.4 ± 2.9% at 15 years, and 18.4 ± 2.04% at 18 years (P < 0.001).
ConclusionsÂ
Prior to 12 years of age in elite youth track and field athletes, there was a consistent and significant sex difference of ~5%, such that males ran faster and jumped higher and farther than females. The magnitude of the sex difference in performance increased markedly at 12-13 years for running and long jump and 14 years for high jump and thus was more pronounced after ages associated with puberty.
However, women are better at spearing Mastodons, field dressing them and dragging them back to the cave than men! Everyone knows that!
I've looked at Olympic records and generally men are about 10% better than women. We've had 50 years of Title IX, so I think we can eliminate societal influences for the cause of the differences and conclude that it is biological. Of course, if women insist that they are equal, then we can eliminate gendered events all together and just have all events for both men and women. Of course, then the Olympics would be all male except for rhythmic gymnastics where contestants wave around ribbons on sticks.