Latitude distribution of track and field elite athletes in China mainland

The civilization theories prevailed among people are the theories paying attention to the geographical factors. In this paper, the latitude distribution of track and field elite athletes in China mainland has been studied in terms of the biological effects of sunlight. The China mainland is divided into seven latitude zones according to the absolute latitude value so that the larger the zone number is, the larger the distance from the Equator. The elite athletes are classified into speed-type, jump-type, strength-type and endurance-type so that the latitude distribution can be discussed in terms of exercise physiology. The latitude distribution shows that the elite athletes of speed-type or jump-type prefer to the zones of low latitude, and the elite athletes of strength-type or endurance-type prefer to the zones of high latitude. These phenomena can be understood by the effects of sunlight on exercise physiological index such as skeletal muscle fibre types.