Competitive advantage at the World Athletics Championships: distribution, dynamics, and the predictive value of U20 performance

This repository contains the complete dataset and code needed to reproduce the empirical analysis of the manuscript currently under review. The package includes: Raw Data: Bottom-level top-eight placement scores for the senior and U20 World Championships (senior_panel_raw.csv, u20_panel_raw.csv). Processed Data: Finalized balanced panel dataset with 1,599 country-edition observations (world_athletics_panel_2001_2025_v2.xlsx). Documentation: Variable dictionary (Codebook.xlsx), mathematical definitions (Formulas_and_Algorithms.md), and step-by-step instructions (README.md). Analysis Code: Python scripts (common.py, step0–step8, run_all.py) to replicate all tables and figures. Simply run python run_all.py to reproduce all results. A detailed cross-check against the manuscript values is provided in Reproduction_Comparison_Table.md.