Sprinting is the marquee event in athletics and has over the years produced many of the greatest athletes in history – namely, Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis, Wilma Rudolph, Gail Devers and, most recently, Usain Bolt.

Sprint end

Athletics run

100m & 200m

The secret of success with fast sprints of 100m and 200m is the ability to react quickly, to get into stride as quickly as possible and then to run a relaxed race to the finish line. It is essential that stride length and arm action are uniform as this helps hold the technique together. Anyone who can run the 100m in under ten seconds (men) and eleven seconds (women) is of world-class standard and has a chance of a major medal. Athletes reach their top speed by about the 60m mark and then it’s all about maintaining that speed as well as possible. Being a great 100m runner, therefore, means every athlete needs the endurance to be able to run a world-class time at 200m and because of this, all athletes need to train at distances of up to 500m-600m to gain speed endurance. Elite men will run the 200m in under 20 seconds and the women in around 22 seconds. Michael Johnson looked set to hold the world record for decades after clocking 19.32 seconds, but Usain Bolt stole his crown at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

400m

Athletes running 400m need to place less emphasis on the start, indeed they have to restrain themselves from going too fast too soon because they will not be able to maintain the same pace throughout. Top athletes often split the distance into segments, varying their pace as they look for the best balance, which ensures they are still running strongly in the final 100m. This does not mean they can take it easy at any stage over 400m, every one-lap runner needs to have the pure speed to challenge top athletes at distances of over 200m as well.

Statistics

  • The current men's 100m world record-holder is Usain Bolt (USA) with a time of 9.58 seconds.

  • The current women's 100m world record-holder is Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) – or Flo-Jo – with a time of 10.49, which was set back in 1988.

  • The current men's 200m world record-holder is Usain Bolt with a time of 19.19 seconds.

  • The current women's 200m world record-holder is Florence Griffith Joyner with a time of 21.34 seconds, set in 1988.

  • Michael Johnson (USA) still holds the men's 400m world record with a time of 43.18 seconds.

  • Marita Koch of Germany still holds the women’s 400m world record with a time of 47.60, set in 1985.

athletics key facts

Key facts

  • In the 100m all competitors are lined up side by side for the start. Athletes are staggered for the start for the 200m and 400m as these involve running around curved sections of track.

  • To be able to run fast is a natural ability but athletes still have to work very hard to reach the top, and the fastest men can travel at over 27mph.

  • In the 100m and 200m the start is critical; in effect it is a race within a race. An athlete with a metre-lead by the 30m point has a good chance of victory.

running feet

The rules

  • In each athlete’s lane the starting blocks are linked up to a computer and register an athlete’s movement. If an athlete moves less than a tenth of a second after the gun has fired, they have committed a false start. From now on, any athlete making a single false start in international races will be disqualified immediately.

  • If an athlete runs outside of their designated lane to gain an advantage, they may be disqualified.

  • The first athlete whose torso reaches the finish line wins the race.