Nearly all track athletes have a large ratio of leg to torso length. For Usain Bolt or Gebrselassie this ratio appears well in excess of 1:1.
Strangely, it looks like the top 2 400m runners of all time in WvN and MJ have significantly shorter legs. Same goes for Lashawn Merritt.
Any explanation?
Sprinters can benefit from shorter leg to torso ratios because it enables faster turnover. Sprinters with longer legs seem to benefit from relatively shorter tibial length, again because it helps achieve faster turnover. Elite sprinters seem to have a wider range of leg lengths and ratios than distance runners. Andre DeGrasse has a long torso relative to his leg length. Bolt's legs are actually not particularly long compared to his upper body, it just seems that way because he is so large and angular.
In distance runners, having long legs and in particular having a longer tibia, confers an advantage. Compared to sprinters, distance runners employ more of a gliding motion while sprinters put down force and explode forward as quickly as possible. There is a very carefully conducted study comparing Europeans to Kenyans, that shows leg thinness, especially ankle thinness, to be perhaps the most important factor.
Western Europeans tend to have leg to torso ratios close to 1:1. Kenyans tend to be well over 1:1, usually 1.25:1 to 1.35:1 but can go as high as 1.5:1.
There are so many other factors at play in elite athletes, but all things being equal having thin legs and ankles and long legs will confer an advantage.
I don't think Van Niekirk's legs are short. Look at some of the photos of him training with Bolt.
Not true at all. Both have long legs. Michael Johnson's may have appeared shorter because they were bulky and because he had a buff upper body.
MJ's legs are relatively short compared to other sprinters. Yes, bulky legs can give that appearance, but his really are relatively short.
Actual leg length or ratio can be highly distorted by how bulky your legs are, what type of shorts you wear (the shorter the shorts, the longer your legs appear) or what exact motion you're in when a camera takes a picture of you.
jamin wrote:
Actual leg length or ratio can be highly distorted by how bulky your legs are, what type of shorts you wear (the shorter the shorts, the longer your legs appear) or what exact motion you're in when a camera takes a picture of you.
Pretty sure I'm not wrong. I was looking at photos of them standing up straight, and used an on-screen ruler to take the ratio at the acetabulofemoral joint.
Too lazy to post the photos here but if you want to vindicate yourself, be my guest. They are in the range of Nick Symmonds with Asbel Kiprop lying on the other extreme far end of the scale.
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