Anthropometric linear measurements of female athletes in the Italian national athletic teams

We present the anthropometric profiles of athletes of the Italian national teams, who represented Italy in the 2019-2020 competitive season in the following sports: artistic (n=4) and rhythmic (n=12) gymnastics; distance swimming (speciality: 100 m freestyle) (n=14); synchronized swimming (n=10); and basketball (n=6). We also consider a group of sedentary women (n=22) for comparisons. The following anthropometric measurements were taken for each woman: stature; anterior trunk height (i.e., suprasternal-symphysion distance); chest circumference passing through the mesosternal point; biacromial diameter (i.e., akromion-akromion distance); wrist circumference; abdominal circumference passing through the omphalion and the lumbale; hip circumference; height of lower limb (i.e., epitrochanter-planta distance). Height was a selective factor in both basketball, which requires tall athletes, and artistic gymnastics, where in contrast, well-muscled athletes of small stature are required. In aquatic sports, the constitutional habitus is characterized by good development of the upper body compared to the lower limbs.