title: The effects of wind and altitude in the 400-m sprint.
abstract: In this paper I use a mathematical model to simulate the effect of wind and altitude on men's and women's 4400-m race performances. Both wind speed and direction were altered to calculate the effect on the velocity profile and the final time of the sprinter. The simulation shows that for a constant wind velocity, changing the wind direction can produce a large variation in the race time and velocity profile. A wind of velocity 2 m x s(-1) is generally a disadvantage to the 400-m runner but this is not so for all wind directions. Constant winds blowing from some directions can provide favourable conditions for the one-lap runner. Differences between the running lanes can be reduced or exaggerated depending on the wind direction. For example, a wind blowing behind the runner in the back straight increases the advantage of lane 8 over lane 1. Wind conditions can change the velocity profile and in some circumstances produce a maximum velocity much later than is evident in windless conditions. Lower air density at altitude produces a time advantage of around 0.06 s for men (0.07 s for women) for each 500-m increase in elevation.
authors.affiliation: School of CMS, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK. m.d.quinn@shu.ac.uk
authors.forename: Mike D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Quinn
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014919:Wind