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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living

Sec. Elite Sports and Performance Enhancement

Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1657245

This article is part of the Research TopicDeveloping Sprinters: How Can We Swim, Cycle and Run Faster?View all 10 articles

Effect of race strategy modification on 200 m performance in athletics

Provisionally accepted
Takaya  YoshimotoTakaya Yoshimoto1*Yoshihiro  ChibaYoshihiro Chiba2Soushi  MizukuboSoushi Mizukubo3Kentaro  SatoKentaro Sato4Hayato  OhnumaHayato Ohnuma5Yohei  TakaiYohei Takai6*
  • 1Hyogo Kyoiku Daigaku, Kato, Japan
  • 2Josai Daigaku, Sakado, Japan
  • 3Miyazaki-ken, Miyazaki, Japan
  • 4Waseda Daigaku - Tokorozawa Campus, Tokorozawa, Japan
  • 5Kobe Joshi Daigaku, Kobe, Japan
  • 6Kanoya Taiiku Daigaku, Kagoshima, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

In the 200 m sprint, it remains unclear whether modifying pacing distribution can lead to improved performance. This study aimed to address this question through three approaches: (1) cross-sectional analysis of world-class sprinters, (2) longitudinal analysis of an elite Japanese sprinter, and (3) an intervention involving pacing strategy modification for that sprinter. The study comprised three components: (1) cross-sectional analysis of 53 official races by world-class sprinters, (2) longitudinal analysis of 8 official races by an elite Japanese sprinter, and (3) a pacing intervention based on these analyses. Pacing distribution was assessed using two indices: the percentage of each 10 m split time relative to the 200 m record (%ST), and the percentage of each 100 m split time relative to the 100 m personal record (%PR). Cross-sectional analysis showed that world-class sprinters tended to sprint relatively slow in the first half and faster in the second half of the 200 m. Longitudinal analysis indicated that the Japanese sprinter achieved faster overall times when his speed in the 100-200 m segment was higher. Based on these findings, the modified pacing strategy improved his 200 m record from 20.43 to 20.14 s. These findings suggest that a pacing strategy focusing on maintaining speed in the latter half of the race, by moderating early acceleration, may contribute to performance improvement in elite-level 200 m sprinting.

Keywords: Split time, pace distribution, Pacing strategy, Running speed, Step frequency, Step length, Re-acceleration

Received: 01 Jul 2025; Accepted: 26 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Yoshimoto, Chiba, Mizukubo, Sato, Ohnuma and Takai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Takaya Yoshimoto, takaya.yoshimoto1002@gmail.com
Yohei Takai, y-takai@nifs-k.ac.jp

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