Reference values for 800-meter run test in Chilean athletes from 35 to 44 years: Cross-sectional study

Introduction: Athletics is an Olympic sport that involves surpassing the athletic performance of opponents, whose performance brings together a set of disciplines that involve the use of various skills generated from initiation to sports specialization. Objective: Develop a qualitative scale for the assessment of athletic performance in 800 meters in Chilean master athletes between 35 and 44 years old. Material and methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study, whose sample considers 196 male and 154 female athletes, whose participation in the 800 meter test was during the period 2014 to 2022, these data being obtained from the registry of the Federation of Master Athletics of Chile. Athletic performance was determined through the time used to complete the test, while the qualitative scale was constructed with the percentiles <10, 10, ≥ 25, ≥ 50, ≥75, corresponding to the criteria excellent, very good, good, regular and poor. Results: In the 800 meters the average was 2:27;57 and 2:59;91 for the male and female group respectively. In general, the standard error of the mean = 0:01;37, reporting significant differences p<0.01 and a large effect size of 1.59. Conclusion: The creation of the qualitative scale for the 800 meters allows evaluating and classifying the sporting level in Chilean athletes between 35 and 44 years. Keywords: Running; Track and field; Athletic Performance; Physical Performance Test