Analysis of jump performance of world-class mogul skiers over an Olympic quadrennial cycle: a case study.

This case study examines the longitudinal jump data of 1 male and 1 female world-class mogul skier over the course of a quadrennial leading to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Between-subjects standard deviation, smallest worthwhile enhancement, % coefficient of variance, and effect size (ES) were calculated from team jump testing taking place immediately preceding the 2010 Winter Olympics, as this was deemed the point in the quadrennial that the athlete group would be most likely near their best performance. These data were then used to characterize the progression of explosive power of elite mogul skiers over an Olympic quadrennial. Jump data for both the male and the female athlete showed trivial to large improvements in jump performance from Q1 (quadrennial year 1) to Q2, variable changes in performance from Q2 to Q4, and an overall improvement (small to large ES) from Q1 to Q4. Explosive power is a critical component of performance for moguls, and an analysis of the group data (Canadian athletes 2006-2010) shows that of all performance markers, jump testing is the variable that clearly delineates between World Cup and developmental athletes.