The Progression of Male 100 m Sprinting with a Lower-Limb Amputation 1976–2012

Abstract

Sprinting with a lower-limb amputation over 100 m has taken place in the Paralympic Games for over three decades. The aim of this paper is to statistically evaluate the performances and participation levels of such athletes during this period. The level of performance improvement over a 36-year period was proposed to be significantly greater than the able-bodied equivalent. Coupled with this, a major spike in amputee running performance improvement was shown to occur from 1984-1988. This supports previously recorded accounts of a major technological change being made at this time. Finally, whilst the average performance of the medallists has increased consistently over the 36-year history, the overall participation in the event fell significantly after 1988 and did not recover until 2012.

Age-Related Changes in Para and Wheelchair Racing Athlete’s Performances

“…At the age of 19 after his gold medal, the blade runner Jonnie Peacock said at the Paralympic Games of London in 2012:” I lost my leg aged at 5… Now I’m 1.9 s behind Usain Bolt.” This comment questions the physical capacities of the para-athletes and the technological contribution of prostheses on the evolution of performance ( Jones and Wilson, 2009 ; Weyand et al, 2009 ; Willick and Lexell, 2014 ; Dyer, 2015a ; Baker, 2016 ). Since the first 1960 Paralympic Games, an increasing number of athletes with physical, visual or intellectual impairments have participated to elite para-athletic competitions ( Dyer, 2015b ; Fagher et al, 2016 ). Scientific and technological progress, such as prosthetic equipment, contributed to para-athletic promotion and the improvement of their performances ( Lepers et al, 2012 ; Dyer, 2015b ; Grobler et al, 2015 ).…”

“…Since the first 1960 Paralympic Games, an increasing number of athletes with physical, visual or intellectual impairments have participated to elite para-athletic competitions ( Dyer, 2015b ; Fagher et al, 2016 ). Scientific and technological progress, such as prosthetic equipment, contributed to para-athletic promotion and the improvement of their performances ( Lepers et al, 2012 ; Dyer, 2015b ; Grobler et al, 2015 ). Indeed, beyond the impairment type, para-athletic performance is a complex process including both intrinsic parameters such as genetics, morphology (height and mass) or age and extrinsic factors such as environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, pollution), training methods, nutrition or technology ( Berthelot et al, 2015 ; Blauwet et al, 2016 ).…”

Resources for sports engineering education

“…Using similar techniques to Haake and colleagues, Dyer [32] highlighted greater performance improvements in running events for lower limb amputees in comparison to able-bodied athletes, highlighting the influence of technology on disability sport. Preston and Johnson [35] investigated the role of technology in swimming record breaks, highlighting the influence of swimsuits.…”

“…David Epstein's 2014 Ted Talk [29] provides an overview of how athletes have developed and become more specialised, and his 2013 book [30] could serve as background reading for those particularly interested in this topic. A number of scientific papers have investigated how sporting performance has improved over time [31][32][33][34][35], and they could be useful when introducing basic physics, mathematical modelling and statistics.…”

The controversy of sports technology: a systematic review

“…Additionally, if a change in sports technology is implemented, its impact in a sport can often be clearly identified (Haake 2009 ). The implementation of technology has a significant impact in cycling , the 100 m sprint , and the javelin (Haake 2009 ) as well as the pole vault (Haake 2009 ; Balmer et al 2011 ), long jump , high jump , triple jump (Balmer et al 2011 ), amputee sprinting (Dyer 2015 ) and swimming (Foster et al 2012 ; Stefani 2012 ). As a result, the innovation, design and application of technology to competitive sport is of paramount importance to athletes looking to optimize their best possible performance in the future.…”