Spatiotemporal parameters of 100-m sprint in different levels of sprinters with unilateral transtibial amputation

The aim of this study was to investigate differences of the spatiotemporal parameters in a 100-m sprint among elite, sub-elite, and non-elite sprinters with a unilateral transtibial amputation. Using publicly available Internet broadcasts, we analyzed 125, 19, and 33 records from 30 elite, 12 sub-elite, and 22 non-elite sprinters, respectively. For each sprinter`s run, the average velocity, step frequency, and step length were calculated using the number of steps in conjunction with the official race time. Average velocity was greatest in elite sprinters (8.71±0.32 m/s), followed by the sub-elite (8.09±0.06 m/s) and non-elite groups (7.72±0.27 m/s). Although there was a significant difference in average step frequency between the three groups, the effect size was small and the relative difference among the three groups was 3.1%. Statistical analysis also revealed that the average step length was longest in elite sprinters, followed by the sub-elite and non-elite groups. These results suggest that the differences in sprint performance between the three groups is mainly due to the average step length rather than step frequency.
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Bibliographic Details
Subjects:
Notations:sports for the handicapped
Tagging:Amputation
Published in:PLOS ONE
Language:English
Published: 2016
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0163712
Volume:11
Issue:10
Pages:e0163712
Document types:article
Level:advanced