Analysis of participant representation in cycling competitions in the Czech Republic

Title: Analysis of Youth Participation in Cycling Competitions in the Czech Republic Objectives: The aim of this thesis is to map the long-term development of participation among individuals under the age of 22 in cycling competitions held in the Czech Republic. The work seeks to evaluate participation trends based on freely accessible data provided by event organizers. Methods: Data were analysed using quantitative descriptive methods applied to result lists from the Kolo pro život series (2015-2024) and aggregate data from the Czech Cycling Federation and the Course de la Paix Juniors. Totals and mean numbers of starts by age and sex were calculated and complemented by a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with organisers, with descriptive statistics and figures produced in Microsoft Excel and interpreted in light of relevant literature on youth cycling. Results: Youth participation in the Kolo pro život series peaked around 2016-2018, then declined markedly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in the race calendar, with only partial recovery in recent seasons. The largest relative decrease occurred in the 14-16 and 17-22 age groups; boys consistently represented the majority of starters, although a slight increase in the proportion of girls was observed in several age categories....