Sprint Start Regulation in Athletics: A Critical Review
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REVIEW ARTICLE
Sprint Start Regulation in Athletics: A Critical Review Matthieu Milloz1 · Kevin Hayes2 · Andrew J. Harrison1
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract The sprint start in athletics is strictly controlled to ensure the fairness of competition. World athletics (WA)-certified start information systems (SIS) record athletes’ response times in competition to ensure that no athletes gain an unfair advantage by responding in 0.01) between RT and 100 m running time, with shared variances of 8.5% and 10.8% for males (r = 0.292) and females (r = 0.328), respectively. While the correlation is small [21], these results emphasize the potential importance of RT in short sprint events. A recent study also found a significant relationship between RT and 60 m performance during World championships from 2010 to 2018 [22]. The use of SIS in research, without taking into account the potential effects of the start signal delivery technology, could, therefore, produce conflicting results and further research needs to be carried out using uniform technologies to assess the potential relationship between RT and performance in sprint events. The SIS start signal delivery technology should, therefore, be tested to ensure all athletes hear the start signal in the same way before being used in competition or in scientific studies. The nature and loudness of the sound of the start signal has an influence on RT. Experimentally, Brown et al. [11] showed that start signal intensities from 80–100–120 dB significantly decreased RT from 138 ± 30 to 128 ± 25 to 120 ± 20 ms, respectively, the sprint start which is consistent with laboratory studies on simple RT [23–25]. The loudness reduces the time to identify the stimulus [24], and the time to initiate the response [23]. A sound of 120 dB increased the occurrence of a startle response and could induce RT under the 100 ms false start threshold [11] by reducing the premotor time via a faster neural pathway [26]. To our knowledge, there does not seem to be a precise regulation by the WA on the start signal intensity. Any differences in signal intensities of the various certified SIS could, therefore, have an effect on the athletes’ RT and the resulting performance. No study has yet been conducted to test the potential difference of the start signal intensity between the various certified SIS and the effects on athlete’s RT. Based on the literature, it is recommended that the WA set a standard start signal intensity for the SIS, whether using a “loud gun” or “silent gun” system, to avoid an effect of the SIS start signal intensity on athlete RT. Further research is, therefore, required to set a standard
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for start signal intensity, which allows athletes to respond immediately without provoking an increase of the startle response occurrence and potentially invoking a false start. Normally, it is intended that the starter gives the start signal after ensuring that all athletes are steady in their starting blocks. The FP duration is necessarily varied to prevent
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