A realistic quasi-physical model of the 100 m dash

Abstract

A quasi-physical model (having both physical and mathematical roots) of sprint performances is presented, accounting for the influence of drag modification via wind and altitude variations.The race-time corrections for world class male sprinters are discussed, and theoretical estimates for the associated drag areas are presented. The corrections are consistent with constant-wind estimates of previous authors. At sea level, world class men's race times are adjusted by about 0.10 s for a wind speed w = 2 m s-1, while every 1000 m of altitude provides an advantage of roughly 0.03–0.04 s. Corrections are provided for a wide range of wind speeds (-5 to +5 m s-1) and altitudes (0–2500 m), as well as for variable winds whose time-averaged value does not realistically reflect the ambient conditions. A simplified algebraic expression is also presented to correct 100 m sprint times for ambient wind and altitude effects. The primary aim is to demonstrate the utility and robustness of the full model in making such predictions, after which accurate measurement of each parameter can help to fine-tune these results. As a practical example of its utility, the nullified World Record and 1988 Olympic 100 m race of Ben Johnson is studied, and compared with the present World Record of 9.79 s. PACS Nos.: 01.80, 02.60L