Emily McClelland: Why men get higher than women: The biology and mechanics of sex differences in jumping performance

Men clearly outperform women in athletic events that require moving their body through space. However, the magnitudes of the difference varies by event. For Olympic running events men run 10-12% faster than women in events ranging from 100 meters to the marathon. In contrast, for the high jump men outperform women by nearly twice the running offset (20%), and in the conventional countermovement jump the sex difference is greater yet at 25%. These observations suggest an interaction between event mechanics and bodily differences between males and females. Running differences are well explained by close alignment between the additional proportion of the female body comprised of fat (+10%) with the 11% difference in performance. However, it is unclear why jumping performance differences are so much greater. Jumping differs from running in that performance depends largely on a single powerful contraction on take-off. Here, we evaluated the possibility that due to the mechanical differences between running and jumping, sex differences in height also factor into the sex difference in jumping performance. Results to date suggest that sex differences in height and body composition do account for the male-female jump differences. Therefore we conclude that sex differences in athletic performance are set by an interaction between bodily differences and mechanical demands of the event.