Welcome to SPRINTERS.TV
- your portal for videos of world-class sprinters, sprint competitions and sprint
training drills and techniques. Sprinters train for and
compete in races in which they run at close to full speed for the duration of the event.
Thus sprinting events are much shorter distances than other running competitions. The most common
Olympic sprinting races are the 100 meter and 200 meter sprints though some classify the 400
meter race as a sprint competition. Indoor competitions will include the 60 meter sprint while American
football players will often test their speed with the 40 yard dash. Sprinters also compete in the
4x100 relay in which each team member passes a baton inside a limited zone to the next teammate.
Sprinters who hold the fastest time in the 100 meter event are often termed, "the world's fastest man" or
"world's fastest woman."
Sprint events normally begin with the competitors exploding out of
adjustable starting blocks which assist to propel the body forward as quickly as possible. The start of
shorter sprint events such as the 100 meter race is critical as there is little distance to compensate for a
poor start. Sprinters will often wear cleated shoes to gain additional traction on the track
surface. In the 60 meter and 100 meter events, sprinters are lined up side-by-side in adjacent lanes
and run a straightaway which allows for the fastest acceleration. Sprinters will approach full-speed around
40 meters at which point each sprinter's pure speed is the deciding factor in the event. The 200 meter and
400 meter events are run around an oval track in which sprinters have staggered starts which accommodate for
the longer distance around the track in the outer lanes.
Sprinters run inside four-foot wide lanes and must avoid multiple false
starts to avoid being eliminated from the competition. Thus sprinters must carefully time the start to
explode out of the blocks at the sound of the gun but avoid a disastrous false
start.
