Sport in Byzantium

This paper describes, briefly, the way the Byzantine sports were formed into the New Rome, known as Byzantium, from Constantine's I days (330-337 AD) up to the end of the empire (1453 AD). The factors that contributed to a new amateur sport movement, based on the idea of leisure and the recreation, were Christianity and the Greco-Roman sport tradition. The prohibition of the traditional Roman bloody ludi, the pause of the Greek Olympic and other pagan games helped the establishment of the basic principle of Christianity (St. Paul) that gymnastic (physical activities) are of second importance for Christians. The author provides a number of newer explanations, other than those traditionally given by other historians.El artículo describe de forma somera cómo se originaron los deportes en la Nueva Roma-Bizancio, desde tiempos de Constantino I (330-337 d.C.) hasta el final del Imperio (1453). Los factores que contribuyeron al desarrollo de un nuevo movimiento deportivo aficionado, basados en las ideas de ocio y entretenimiento, fueron el cristianismo y la tradición deportiva greco-romana. La prohibición de los sangrientos ludi romanos, la abolición de los Juegos Olímpicos y otros certámenes paganos ayudaron al establecimiento del principio básico cristiano (S. Pablo) de que las actividades físicas eran de importancia secundaria. El autor ofrece nuevas explicaciones, que difieren de las tradicionales dadas por otros historiadores

Analysis of match report indicators in men's volleyball Olympics and world championships (2014–2021) depending on the type of final score

The purpose of this study was to explore the match and technical indicators between winning and losing teams in the Olympics and World Championships (2016–2021) depending on the final score of the matches. A total of 273 volleyball match reports were analyzed from the Men's Olympics (2016 and 2021) and World Championships (2014–2018). Discriminant function analysis determined which skill(s) contributed significantly to winning in matches with various score types. This study showed that for 3- and 4-set matches attack was the best predictor for team's success, while block and serve had also meaningful contribution. In 5-set matches serve and block points were the main predictors of a team's success. The results on the importance of scoring skills highlight the necessity of sustained trainability of all match actions, not favoring one, such as attack, too much. The essential for this balance is confirmed by the fact that teams do not increase their probability of winning a match by success only in attack, but also in the other terminal actions such as serve and block. © The Author(s) 2022

Relationship between stature level and success in elite judo: an analysis on four consecutive Olympic Games

Purpose: The rationale of our study derived from the important changes in judo rules, with particular consideration of the leg grabs. Therefore, the present study aimed at demonstrating the relationships between stature and successful matches in elite judo, in relation to both genders and seven weight categories. Methods: Stature levels and final ranking position of each participant were recorded on the base of the year of Olympic Game (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016), gender, and weight class. A one-way ANCOVA was applied to determinate possible differences (p ≤ 0.05) among judoka’s statures related to each Olympic Game. Results: Results showed that no difference has been reported for stature level of each judo Olympic Game in all and only male judoka. On the contrary, for female, difference (p = 0.007) on judoka’s stature levels among ranking positions generally emerged, reporting increases in stature levels between the first and the fifth (from 163.62 ± 7.95 to 167.90 ± 8.88 cm; p = 0.004), and the seventh (from 163.62 ± 7.95 to 168.26 ± 8.53 cm; p = 0.016) ranking position. Conclusion: Considering that no relationship between stature and successful matches in elite judo emerged in the analyzed four Olympics Games, it can speculate that no advantage can be attributed to the taller judoka’s for the rule changes regarding the leg grabs. © 2017, Springer-Verlag Italia S.r.l., part of Springer Nature