Maximum Speed of Female High School Runners

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to develop a cinematographic technique to obtain selected parameters over an entire 100-m ran and to evaluate selected characteristics of the maximum speed phase (MSP) and the final phase (FP) for female high school runners. The MSP was defined as the part of the 100-m run consisting of the five consecutive strides which together have the largest average speed value, and the FP as the last 10 m of the 100-m run. Twelve sprinters with best 100-m times from 12.3 to 13.4 s served as subjects. The major findings of this study were that (a) maximum speeds of 8.0-8.4 m/s were reached 23-37 m from the start, (b) an average of 7.3% of the maximum speed was lost by the FP, (c) no significant difference was found between the average stride lengths during the MSP and the FP, (d) the average stride frequency during the FP was equal to 93% of the corresponding value during the MSP, and (e) the decrease in average speed from the MSP to the FP was associated with an increase in support time from the MSP to the FP.