Home advantage in speed skating: evidence from individual data

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Performance Analysis
• Skating Dynamics

Background:

• Home advantage is a recognized phenomenon across numerous sports, including team sports and major international tournaments.
• Evidence for home advantage in individual sports is less extensive, prompting investigation into speed skating.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the presence and magnitude of home advantage in professional speed skating.
• To differentiate home advantage from other performance-influencing factors in speed skating.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a generalized linear mixed model to analyze speed skating performance data.
• Incorporated random effects for individual skaters and fixed effects for skating rinks and seasons to control for variability.

Main Results:

• A small but statistically significant home advantage was detected in speed skating.
• The identified home advantage effect was considerably smaller than performance variations attributed to individual skater abilities and rink conditions.

Conclusions:

• A home advantage phenomenon exists in speed skating, albeit a minor one.
• Performance variations due to individual skill and venue characteristics are more dominant factors than home advantage in speed skating.