Abstract
This article offers a brief introduction to selected demographic methods according to their application in sports and specifically athletics. The data analysed are on the length of a 'top' sports career rather than on the length of an individual's life. (In this article, 'top career' refers to the period of an athlete's career peak, when athletes give their peak athletic performance.) Life tables are thus calculated to show the length of the careers of men and women as top athletes in various athletic disciplines.
The results of this analysis confirmed that men and women perform differently in individual disciplines and the expected duration of their careers as top athletes in individual disciplines also differs. The results basically represent an introduction to sports demography and confirm the applicability of the methods of demographic analysis in this field.