How does HEIGHT affect Speed for Female Sprinters

In this video we take a look at elite female sprinters of varying heights to examine if there are any advantages or disadvantages present among shorter/taller athletes for the 100 and 200 metres

Music: HORUSIII x HICAP - We Do It

[chloecastro]

i’m 5’1 and it’s so cool to see short women dominate a field where it’s stereotypically better to be tall!!!!

[Ytremz]

The bigger you are, the more strength you need to accelerate all that weight and get a good start. Longer strides normally pair with a bigger frame.

[pukulu]

It's evident that for female sprinters it pays to be a bit taller for the 200 meters than for the 100 meters. Top speed is more important at 200 meters while a great start helps for the 100 meters. Still, it's not so intuitive that several of the best females in the 100 meters have been rather short, 5'1" to 5"4". Fraser-Pryce is a great example but so is Sha'Carri Richardson, or Marie Josee Ta Lou.

[defnotconar]

I've been wondering about this for a while. Thank for making a video on this topic!

[JoeTodd]

It's a shame that Schippers' peak didn't last for longer but 2 WC Golds and a championship record in the 200m is very impressive.
Netherlands seem to have some serious talent in the women's 400m right now

[AllInTheGame]

0:07; I'm sorry but the end of that 4x1 race between NED & SUI will never stop being funny :) Quite telling that to date there are no women below 5' 6' that's run a wind-legal sub 21.7s. Will be interesting to see if Sha'Carri (21.92 PB) who ran 21.61 (+2.6) or roughly 21.80 (0.0) in R1 of the 200m @USAs last year will be the first to do so.

[charlesgraham]

i loved watching Ashford run back in the 80s, she was so smooth looking. she's my favorite by far.

[Christian-sesi]

The main factor at play in women’s sprinting is turnover speed. The best women in the world have some incredibly fast foot contact times, which is why a lot of shorter women are very dominant. The stronger factor at play for men is stride length

[Shane]

My question would be what is the difference in leg length. A shorter lady that has a longer leg/short torso build would match up better with a taller lady I would suspect.

[lvseka]

After watching Julien Alfred’s performance at the Olympics finals, I’m convinced that 5’7” is a sweet sport for women to run at the fastest speeds.

[Dlami]

Shorter height / legs = faster start & low top end speed also mid / average top end speed at best, they normally start fast but fade in tge latter stages of the race. Taller height = slower start, high top end speed at best, they normally start slower but have great closing speed and top end speed . The reason being is because shorter sprinters get into their running or strides faster while taller sprinters it takes them a while to get into their stride hence why they tend to have better top end speed. Though i must say there are instances where the roles are sort of reversed there are tall athletes who start well but fade in the latter stages and there are shorter athletes who have slower starts and have high top end speed but its sort of a rare case. This is easily identifiable in the sprints.

[tlamelokgosimalebe]

Im 5'9 but whenever I'm watching these ladies run on tv i always believed they are tall;well except for Frazer Pryce, Sha Carri and ta lou😂😂 I can't believe how tall Iam now

[JDMimeTHEFIRST]

Short people definitely have to work harder. But Sha’Carri is 5ft 1in. She trains hard and is fast. If she was taller, it would be even easier.

I’m short and a runner. I run often with taller people and while they are barely moving at the same pace, I’m working my ass off. It’s definitely harder to win when you are short. You are working harder than tall people

[chill]

I always thought the shorter person would have a disadvantage bc there legs have to move twice as fast to keep up with someone that's taller ( longer legs)

[TremblingQualifier]

i think there advantages/disadvantages to heights at any distance, but how the athlete trains and uses their advantages in performance is what matters most. I can imagine at more extreme ends of height, there could be bigger disadvantages, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of those disadvantages have to do with the impacts of how living in the rest of society is not physically optimized for those heights (with variations based on country) which can affect training and performance in a very straightforward physical performance sport.

[YungSiKrey]

Shelly has the best start abd Elaine has the best top speed and Shericka can maintain her top spedd the longest.

[gentleeyes]

I cry every time I watch Evelyn Ashford close the distance on East Germany in that relay race.

[naomim]

Brings me pride. They are so amazing!

[jj-ifit]

I'm over 6'1" and can't help but wonder if I missed my calling to succeed at sport somewhere along the way...

[dawnbillingslea]

ShellyAnn Fraser Pryce was not always muscular either. 🤔 I love her but I’m just saying…many of these sprinters don’t always start out muscular. Some never build it.