Body composition and physical fitness of different blood groups in Olympic athletes

Background and Aim: A comprehensive understanding of an athlete's physical fitness and overall condition is paramount in professional sports, especially wrestling. Such insights are instrumental in talent identification, sculpting training regimens, and, ultimately, ensuring success on the field. Given this backdrop, this study embarked on a mission to meticulously investigate the variances in body composition and diverse elements of physical fitness among the elite Olympic athletes of Iraq. The emphasis was on delineating correlations or disparities based on their blood groups. Methods: Adopting a robust semi-experimental approach, this research incorporated 40 young, spirited wrestlers from Baghdad. These athletes represented a spectrum of blood groups: A, B, AB, and O, all unified by a positive RH factor. Spanning from January 2021 to May 2023, post the acquisition of informed consent; these participants underwent rigorous laboratory evaluations. These assessments delved into determining their blood group, deciphering body fat percentages, BMI metrics, and gauging attributes like endurance, muscle tenacity, speed, agility, anaerobic prowess, and peak oxygen consumption. To ensure data integrity, analyses were diligently performed using the renowned SPSS22 software, with a stringent significance benchmark of .05. Results: The findings were revelatory. Clear-cut distinctions were evident across the four blood group categories (p < .05). Athletes with the O blood group consistently eclipsed their counterparts, while the AB group presented a contrasting picture, trailing in most metrics. Conclusion: The research underscores that an athlete's blood group might significantly determine their physical composition and performance capabilities, especially in Olympic sports.