Performance analysis in wheelchair racing

Wheelchair racers have shown astonishing performance in the last few decades. Yet to date, only few studies have been carried out on wheelchair racing. Conclusive evidences from previous studies have urged more works on realistic condition. The present study aims to develop and comprehensively examine a novel method for assessing performance in wheelchair racing. In full 100-m race simulation on a track, electrogoniometers were used to detect elbow movement at a sampling frequency of I kHz. The new method has been verified to be reliable in assessing performance in wheelchair racing. The push frequency increases clearly during the first 40% ofthe race, and drops slightly during the last 10%. The maximal angular velocity of elbow extension was 26 rad/s. On average, the racer performed more than 117 pushes per minute.