W T F Sprint times in Austin

Heat + humidity = fast times

Fast track, warm weather (not Oregon's cold rain), hefty but not illegal tailwind - that's why the set PB's. Most importantly, the shoes are making a huge difference in the times compared to previous years. It's consistently taking faster and faster times to make the final. Blame the shoes for that.

how does humidity help a sprinter?

Actually yes, humid air is less dense than dry air, for the same temperature and pressure.

None of those mechanisms explain the depth of PB's.

Nobody else is concerned about the timing/wind measurement?

Check out the 1:30 mark of the YT vid of heat 3 of the 100m, Oghenebrume's 9.93. The wind reading at the top of the screen indicates +2.7, but the official wind reading was given as +0.8.

Who got it wrong, and why/how?

This one was from Regionals two weeks ago - the wind is correct in the results. That said, seems like the magic of the women's meet indoors has finally arrived for the men :)

oops!

ERROR...ERROR...ERROR

lol thanks

But, still...

I was surprised how unenthusiastic the announcers were about it all. We just saw a 9.8 in a prelim and they were talking so monotone like it was ho-hum. Your stat about the PBs is impressive -- I have always had some skepticism about timing in short sprints but there's little we can do about it once the races have already happened. I also don't think it's totally unbelievable that it was just a really fast day and people wanted to get after it at the meet they've been peaking for all season.

I posted this in another thread but I do think the shoes are having an effect. I estimate the latest super sprint spikes (Nike Maxflies for example) are worth about .1 seconds in the 100 and .2 seconds in the 200 and as much as .5 seconds for the 400. If you apply that conversion to the NCAA times this year, they start to make a lot more sense from a historical perspective. Not as dramatic of an effect as the Vaporflies have had on the distance events, but still noticeable. Nike, NB and Adidas all have super sprint spikes available in the last year with a combo of carbon fiber and super foam and/or an air pocket for Nike. I think where they really help is in the speed maintenance area, making it easier to maintain a higher sprint speed for longer, they aren't going to magically make you faster per-se, but they will allow you to hold your speed a little longer. If you've tried on a pair of Maxflies they are crazy bouncy/springy and yet incredibly light too.

Heat + favorable wind + peaking athletes. The times aren't that surprising to me.

I hope the winds remain legal for the finals. Should see some records go down.

4x1 prelims were equally insane. 4 or 5 teams running 38 and not qualifying! A bunch of sub 45s in the 400 prelims too. Crazy day!

hmmm Coach, maybe I'll have to check those out. I get what you're saying, the feeling in maintenance.

You profess to know sprints and you don't know this?

O = 16,

O2 = 32

N = 14

N2 = 28

Dry air = 21% O2 + 78% N2 + <1% other

Dry air = 28.96

Water vapor = H2O = 2+16 = 18

Substitute water vapor (18) with up to 4% dry air (28.96)

Therefore humid air is less dense than dry air.

Talent level in the sprints at NCAAs has been building over the past few years. This is definitely a banner year. And when you have a very high level of talent, the heats are very competitive, which pushes times down. The fast heats are all contested races with runners pushing each other all the way through to the tape. Normally, most heats are a mismatch with 1 or 2 runners getting a big lead and shutting down with 10-20 m to go. Not this year.

Sorry, but when did "shoes here" profess to know sprints?

And Roy that makes some sense and I thought about it, with the "internationality" of the fields--but we're not talking just fast times, we're talking PB's across the board for qualifiers. And a 9.89 and 19.76 in the PRELIMS.

But I get it, and it's plausible. Also, maybe the shoe angle is plausible, idk.

Could we actually have the perfect storm in Austin? Shoes + competition + conditions + peaking + track + everyone healthy???

If any equivalent sort of insanity happens in the finals, I will reject the perfect storm hypothesis and call bs.

Amazing!

Actually looking at recent historical times, these results aren't that far out of whack, at least looking at the men's 100m. The only thing a little different this year is taking 9 to finals instead of 8.

In 2017 it took a 10.05 to make the top 9 (10.03 to make the 8 person finals) with Christian Coleman running a wind legal 9.82 in the prelims:

In 2015 it took 10.09 to make the top 9 in prelims, with Trayvon Bromell running a wind legal 9.90:

In 2019 it took 10.03 to make the top 9 in prelims, though a couple of the heats had 2.4 and 2.6 m/s winds:

You could argue that 2016 and 2018 were slightly down years, but it still took a wind legal 10.10 to make the top 9 in prelims in 2018. Overall I would say it looks like the NCAA sprints have just returned to their pre-Covid levels, at least looking at the 100m. It does look like the 200 and 400 are deeper this year, but I don't have time to go through every event.

It's almost like the coaches...taper their athletes for the meet! I know that's a pretty crazy concept to grasp.

THE TRACK SHRANK AFTER THEY SURVEYED IT!!1!

Normal people: Great athletes, great facility, great weather (for speed).

You: Nope, $100,000+ of timing equipment must be broken.