MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF ENERGY COST IN SPRINT RUNNING

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze energetic cost and metabolic power during the 100m races of Athletics (data from the World Athletic Championship 1997) using a new energetic approach. We used the instantaneous speed at every 10 metres of the race, due to the acceleration characteristics and in order to predict the energetic cost throughout the construction of a mathematical model adapted from Di Prampero et al. (2005). The inputs used in the model were the ‘equivalent body mass’, ‘equivalent slope’, instantaneous speeds and proportionality constant to each 10cm of events. The average energy cost was 6.78 J.Kg-1.m-1.