Introduction
Of all sports, sprinting is the simplest. All that is
required to run the race is a start and finish line,
and an accepted method of starting the race. The
winner is the first person to cross the finish line.
Sprinting over short distances is one of man’s
earliest athletic pursuits. The pioneering event
in the ancient Olympic Games was the ‘stade’,
which was equivalent to the length of the
stadium—192 m—at Atlis, the theatre of the
games (Quercetani 1964). Later, a second race,
thediaulos,equivalent to two stades (384 m), was
included as a foot race (Durant 1961).
The earliest records of the Olympic Games
credit the winner of the sprint event in the
ancient Olympics of 776 bcat Olympia to Core-
obus, a cook from the nearby city of Elis. The
ancient tradition of honouring the fastest person
on the day still holds today in major champi-
onships, with the awarding of medals. The intro-
duction of accurate and reliable time-keeping has
also led to the establishment of world records.
This has allowed athletes to compete against the
clock on tracks around the world and far from
the record holder (current world sprint records
are shown in Table 41.1).
In comparison with the encyclopaedic litera-
ture on endurance running, there is little infor-
mation on sprinting. ‘Sprinting’ is also a generic
term used to describe brief maximum effort
during a wide range of activities, including
running, cycling, swimming, canoeing, rowing,
field hockey, soccer and rugby. Under these cir-
cumstances, the duration of the activity is often
different from track sprinting. Therefore, for the
purpose of this chapter, sprinting is considered
as brief maximal exercise, of less than 60 s dura-
tion. The intensity of exercise is well in excess of
that required to elicit maximum oxygen uptake
(V.
o2max.), and there is no distribution of effort.
Setting aside the influence of natural talent
and appropriate training, correct nutrition
during training and competition is one of the
most important components in the formula for
success in sprinting. Athletes are notoriously
vulnerable to advertisements for nutritional sup-
plements which make claims about enhancing
performance. Before reviewing the pertinent lit-
erature on nutrition and sprinting, this chapter
will provide a brief overview of physiological
and metabolic responses to sprinting, and the
onset of fatigue, both on the track and in the labo-
ratory, and adaptations to sprint training.Metabolic responses to sprinting
Only a few studies have examined the metabolic
responses to 100-m and 400-m track sprinting
(Hirvonenet al. 1987, 1992; Lacour et al. 1990;
Hautieret al. 1994; Locatelli & Arsac 1995).
Hirvonenet al. (1987) measured the muscle
adenosine triphosphate (ATP), phosphocreatine
(PCr) and lactate concentrations in seven male
sprinters before and after running 40, 60, 80 and
100 m at maximum speed. The fastest sprinters
utilized the greatest amount of PCr in the first 40,
60 and 80 m of the run (Fig. 41.2). Most of the PCr