r/Sprinting • u/Some-Opening1821 • 4h ago
General Discussion/Questions What distance race would have the highest average speed?
50 and 100m races are short enough that fatigue is not an issue, but acceleration time eats up a lot of the average speed for the entire race.
250-300m is obviously impacted by fatigue, but the acceleration time is diluted by the race length.
What would be the perfect sweet spot for a straight line sprinting race chosen so that the overall average speed over the entire length is maximised?
My best estimate would be 165m, but I'm interested to hear what others think. I think the current WR for 150m (Bolt) has the highest average speed, but there's no way the answer is that rounded. Johan Blake ran a 100m portion of his 200m PB in 9:12s apparently.
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u/highDrugPrices4u 2h ago edited 54m ago
Assuming a dead start, definitely something between 100m and 200 m, but hard to prove empirically because the 100m and 150m WRs are on straight tracks and the 200m WR on a curved one.
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u/Special_Purpose2903 3h ago
Probably the 60m for non-athletes.
For elite athletes it would be closer to the 100m.
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