Sprinters, this organic machines of unbelievable power, explosion and reaction times

Usain Bolt (born 1986) reached a speed of 27.8 miles per hour (44.72 kilometers per hour) in 2009 at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. That is almost double the average human’s top speed, which is about 15 miles per hour (24 kilometers per hour). Moreover, it is a speed that exceeds many areas and vehicles that are restricted to 40 kilometers per hour. At a height of 1.95 and 94 kilograms, a man by no means small, Bolt must generate immense power to reach 44 km/h, and with strides over 2.4 meters long he reaches a speed of over 10 meters per second during the races.

Sprinters are natural phenomena, built of a large portion of fast twitch fibers, strongly developed and defined muscles, having the figure similar to the statues of ancient Greece – not too massive to be heavy, but not too weak to be powerless. Sprinters have the biological characteristics that help them to break away from the ground very quickly with a short contact to the ground and to reach great speeds.

Beyond the native qualities and the passion for speed, they must also test these unbelievable times in competitions – just like teenagers who have just received their driving license and want to test each other: who has the most powerful and fastest car? The difference is that in the case of sprinters, the machines are themselves, their very strong nervous system and their bodies pushed to their limits.

Importance of the Olympics for sprinters and the factors contributing to their peak performance

In order to test their speed and to measure their progress over the course of a year, sprinters participate during a calendar year in Grand Prix competitions, national and continental championships, but also in world championships, which are being held once every 2 years. But the peak, the most coveted and prestigious title, to be considered the fastest man on the planet, is the race at the Olympic Games.

The final of the 100 meters is the most anticipated race at the Olympic Games with the largest number of spectators. Although it is the shortest race in the running events, being only 100 meters long, more than 35 million spectators watched the 2016 Olympic final with the victory of Bolt.

In order to achieve these performances, sprinters train with high intensity in terms of strength and speed throughout the year: strength training with weights, repeated starts for reaction and timed running sets in which they reach 100% of their capacity – which, for that matter, can lead to injuries. The high level of competition and the need to support training at maximum intensity is necessary to achieve top competitive abilities despite the risks of injuries, which, in fact, occur very often.

Brief history of sprinting events in the Olympics

The 100 meters race has been part of the Olympic events since the first edition of the modern Olympic Games in 1896. People have always loved speed and what could be more spectacular than watching some athletes with impressive physiques putting on a show in a race reaching almost illegal speeds for ordinary people?

They are like top fuel dragsters that reach the limits of human potential. They are the pinnacle of human performance – from legends like Carl Lewis (born 1961) and Maurice Greene (born 1974) to legendary record holders like Usain Bolt and the younger generation with Noah Lyles (born 1997) and the current Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs (born 1994). These are just a few names among those who have been pushing the human physiological limits beyond what had been thought previously possible and who had been celebrated at their time as “the fastest person on the planet”.

For female athletes, the 100 meters race is as intense and spectacular as for male athletes. Throughout history there was the record holder Florence Griffith-Joyner (1959-1998), with some recorded times that make most men envious, Marion Jones (born 1975), 5 times Olympic medalist who was the public’s favorite in the early 2000s. Currently, we admire two legendary athletes born in Jamaica: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price (born 1986) with 8 Olympic medals and Elain Thompson-Herah (born 1992) with 6 Olympic medals, the latter being regarded as the second fastest female athlete of all times after “Flo-Jo” aka Florence Griffith-Joyner.

Sprint events can seem easy: after all, who would not be able to run 100 meters? This apparent easiness contributes massively to their popularity. On the other hand, there is no room for mistakes during the 10 seconds of a race. Nerves stretched to the maximum before the race, tense muscles in anticipation of the start and the uncomfortable position in the starting block can – and do – cause problems for the involved athlete.

But what precisely is the secret which turns the 100 meters race into such a fascination? Its duration of only a few seconds? The intensity at the start of the race? The explosion and almost superhuman reaction of these incredible athletes? Perhaps all these points taken together?

Just wait for this event at the current Olympics in Paris: we will enjoy the opportunity to see the indispensable Americans at the start, represented by the talented and especially charismatic Noah Lyles, who managed to qualify at the last moment by equaling his personal record, competing against his compatriots Kenny Bednark and Fred Kerley – all of them three outstanding competitors with times under 9.90 seconds for the 100 meters race.

Prestige and pressure

The 10-seconds barrier has always been the physical and mental barrier for male athletes; for female athletes, it was the 11-seconds barrier. Whoever goes below 10 seconds enters the select club of the fastest sprinters on the planet and can be considered a world-class athlete.

In the era of electronic timing, being much more precise than manual timing, the first athlete to run under 10 seconds was Jim Hines (1946-2023) at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. Ever since, almost 200 more athletes have managed to break downwards the golden barrier of 10 seconds.

Over time, there have been several sprinters who earned and held the world record, thus winning the Olympic title in the 100-meters event. For instance, Usain Bolt managed to hold 3 world records at 100 meters, he won 3 Olympic finals. Moreover, he broke the 200-meters record twice, the longer parallel event of the 100 meters, thus winning 3 Olympic finals.

Taking into account the records broken and the Olympic finals won by Bolt, he is unanimously considered the greatest sprinter of all times.

The future of sprinting and the potential to see new records and rising stars at forthcoming Olympic Games

It seems to be part of our human nature to always demand more and more from sport events and athletes. We want to see stronger, faster, more enduring athletes – and the records they break. When the 10-second limit was broken in 1968, many thought that would be the limit. Since then, nearly 200 sprinters have managed to race under 10 seconds, with some among them having repeatedly gone under those 10 seconds.

For example, Asafa Powell (born 1982) broke the 10-seconds barrier no less than 97 times, almost twice as many as Usain Bolt’s 49 sub-10-second races. Unfortunately, he did not manage to transfer this amazing consistency to the Olympic finals, thus not winning any medals in the 3 participations at the Olympic Games in 2004, 2008 and 2012 in the 100 meters event.

What does the future hold for us? Maybe we will see phenomenal athletes who will go below 9.50? As 9.59 has already been achieved by Usain Bolt, why not witness a time just under 9.50? The human limits are unknown, and science, performance and records will only improve with time, therefore potentially resulting in new records.

Conclusion

To achieve high performance in sprinting, one needs a set of physiologically natural skills, consequently compounded by strength, speed, explosion, reaction, mental fortitude – qualities which must be trained for years in order for the athlete to be able to perform at his or her highest level.

If you want to see the world’s top sprinters, and what they are capable of, you have probably watched the 100 meters final at the Paris Olympic Games on Saturday, August 3, 2024, for women, and on Sunday, August 4, 2024, for men, where it was decided who is the fastest person on the planet.

If you want to get an idea of the competing athletes and maybe choose a favorite athlete, you can find them in the races uploaded on YouTube and on websites like Worldathletics  and Olympics, the official website of the Olympic Games.

Having a favorite athlete will definitely make the experience and anticipation of the race much more interesting! Enjoy and have faith!