ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Gazzetta Medica Italiana - Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2022 July-August;181(7-8):558-63

DOI: 10.23736/S0393-3660.21.04682-9

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Anthropometric characteristics are a non-negligible factor even in world’s elite 100-m sprinters

Hayato OHNUMA ¹ ✉, Takaya YOSHIMOTO ¹, Kaito IWAYAMA ¹, Ryo YAMANAKA ², Toshiyuki OHYA ³, Takeo MATSUBAYASHI ¹

¹ Faculty of Education, Kansai University of Social Walfare, Ako, Japan; ² Faculty of Education, Kogakkan University, Ise, Japan; ³ Faculty of Budo and Sport Studies, Tenri University, Tenri, Japan; ⁴ School of Health and Sport Sciences, Chukyo University, Toyota, Japan; ⁵ Faculty of Agro-Food Sciences, Niigata Agro-Food University, Niigata, Japan; ⁶ Department of Sports Sciences, Japanese Institute of Sports Sciences, Tokyo, Japan

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have simply shown correlation relationships between spatiotemporal variables and anthropometric characteristics. In case targeted only elite sprinter, there is a possibility that the relationship may differ from previous study. The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between anthropometric characteristics and spatiotemporal variables, and to assess the relative influence of determinant anthropometric characteristics on spatiotemporal variables in world-class sprinters.
METHODS: Study participants were 64 of 117 world-class sprinters who had a personal record of less than 9.99 seconds in a 100-m sprint. Correlations between the anthropometric characteristics and spatiotemporal variables were analyzed, and multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine the ability of determinant anthropometric characteristics to predict spatiotemporal variables.
RESULTS: Average step length was significantly positively correlated with height and weight, and average step frequency was significantly negatively correlated with height and weight. There were no significant correlations between spatiotemporal variables and BMI. Multiple linear regression revealed that both height and weight were significant predictors of step length, and height was the only significant predictor of step frequency. The coefficients of determination (R²) for step length and step frequency were 0.423 and 0.354, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that anthropometric characteristics such as height and weight are major determinants of step frequency and length even in world-class sprinters.

KEY WORDS: Athletic performance; Body height; Running