Boys vs. Girls: Age and Strength

I am always a bit puzzled by polls such as this. In my experience, most teenage boys and most men are much stronger than most girls and women. Of course, the very strongest girls and women are stronger than the average male. Are things different in the USA? (Pre-teen boys and girls are munch more alike in strength).

The following representative world records show that the best men are faster and stronger than the best women. Are there any sports where the reverse is true?

Track and field 100 m 9.78 Tim Montgomery (USA) 14 Sep 2002 Paris (C) 100 m 10.49 Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) 16 Jul 1988 Indianapolis

1000 m 2:11.96 Noah Ngeny (KEN) 5 Sep 1999 Rieti 1000 m 2:28.98 Svetlana Masterkova (RUS) 23 Aug 1996 Brussels

10000 m 26:22.75 Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 1 Jun 1998 Hengelo 10000 m 29:31.78 Wang Junxia (CHN) 8 Sep 1993 Beijing

Marathon 2:04:55 Paul Tergat (KEN) 28 Sep 2003 Berlin Marathon 2:15:25 Paula Radcliffe (GBR) 13 Apr 2003 London

100 km 6:10:20 Don Ritchie (GBR) 28 Oct 1978 London (CP) 100 km 7:14:06 Norimi Sakurai (JPN) 27 Sep 2003 San Giovanni Lupatoto

High Jump 2.45 Javier Sotomayor (CUB) 27 Jul 1993 Salamanca High Jump 2.09 Stefka Kostadinova (BUL) 30 Aug 1987 Rome

Long Jump 8.95 Mike Powell (USA) 30 Aug 1991 Tokyo Long Jump 7.52 Galina Chistyakova (URS/RUS) 11 Jun 1988 St. Petersburg

Weight lifting 69 kg Snatch 165.0 kg MARKOV Georgi (BUL) 20 Sept 2000 Sydney 69 kg Snatch 120.0 kg LIU Chunhong (CHN) 19 Nov 2003 Vancouver

Freestyle swimmng 100 m 47.84 van den Hoogenband (Neth) 19 Sept. 2000 Sydney 100 m 53.77 de Bruijn (Neth) 20 Sept. 2000 Sydney

Ono, this poll is not about whether the strongest men are or are not stronger than the strongest women. Its about individuals. At any age and size there are some girls/women who are stronger than many or even most boys/men of the same size.

Below age 13 or 14 a large proportion of girls are stronger than many or most boys their age. These girls would also be stronger than almost all boys who are a year or more younger than them.

After age 13 or 14, as boys are growing, strong girls find that they are stronger than fewer and fewer boys, but they will still be stronger than some boys. These girls also have some control over how many boys are stronger than them. If the girls actively participate in sports, lift weights, etc. they will be stronger than more boys, and some will be stronger than most boys. If they not, they will find themselves falling behind more boys.

This poll is about what strong girls and the boys they have always overpowered are experiencing as they grow, how they feel about it, and what they are doing about it.

I hope this gives you a better idea of the point of this poll.

========== In Reply To ========== I am always a bit puzzled by polls such as this. In my experience, most teenage boys and most men are much stronger than most girls and women. Of course, the very strongest girls and women are stronger than the average male. Are things different in the USA? (Pre-teen boys and girls are munch more alike in strength).

The following representative world records show that the best men are faster and stronger than the best women. Are there any sports where the reverse is true?

Track and field 100 m 9.78 Tim Montgomery (USA) 14 Sep 2002 Paris (C) 100 m 10.49 Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) 16 Jul 1988 Indianapolis

1000 m 2:11.96 Noah Ngeny (KEN) 5 Sep 1999 Rieti 1000 m 2:28.98 Svetlana Masterkova (RUS) 23 Aug 1996 Brussels

10000 m 26:22.75 Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 1 Jun 1998 Hengelo 10000 m 29:31.78 Wang Junxia (CHN) 8 Sep 1993 Beijing

Marathon 2:04:55 Paul Tergat (KEN) 28 Sep 2003 Berlin Marathon 2:15:25 Paula Radcliffe (GBR) 13 Apr 2003 London

100 km 6:10:20 Don Ritchie (GBR) 28 Oct 1978 London (CP) 100 km 7:14:06 Norimi Sakurai (JPN) 27 Sep 2003 San Giovanni Lupatoto

High Jump 2.45 Javier Sotomayor (CUB) 27 Jul 1993 Salamanca High Jump 2.09 Stefka Kostadinova (BUL) 30 Aug 1987 Rome

Long Jump 8.95 Mike Powell (USA) 30 Aug 1991 Tokyo Long Jump 7.52 Galina Chistyakova (URS/RUS) 11 Jun 1988 St. Petersburg

Weight lifting 69 kg Snatch 165.0 kg MARKOV Georgi (BUL) 20 Sept 2000 Sydney 69 kg Snatch 120.0 kg LIU Chunhong (CHN) 19 Nov 2003 Vancouver

Freestyle swimmng 100 m 47.84 van den Hoogenband (Neth) 19 Sept. 2000 Sydney 100 m 53.77 de Bruijn (Neth) 20 Sept. 2000 Sydney

My female friends (some of which work out) are weaker than most of my male friends (fewer work out). Once males got to 13 they could overpower girls easy where I went to school.

Hi Teenmom, I'm suprised at that. Maybe you just hang with a much more feminine group of girls than I do. When we were 13, most of my girl friends were bigger than most of the boys and as strong. The boys didn't really start pulling ahead until we were 14-15. Even then, the girls who worked out hard were stronger than most boys who didn't work out.

Cragslad, looking at the "big picture" is fine for some things. But if I find myself facing a stronger woman in a competition (and they are uncommon but not as rare as a two-headed cow or snake) the big picture won't save me.

Even in the big picture older girls are usually stronger than younger boys. This poll is about that age when a boy begins to catch up to and surpass girl who has always been his superior, especially if she is athletic enough that both the boy and the girl expect that she can still overpower him.