Why does nobody ever dive for the line in the 100m

Burpees not burgers 😑

On a serious note, Grant Halloway does this in the hurdles. Probably worth a few hundredths

People lean or dip at the line in the 100. Their legs aren't completely shot as you witness their momentum taking them into the bend. In some longer races they try to do the same thing at the same time as their legs are about ready to give out, so they start to fall and use what energy they have left to push themselves past the line. It is rarely an actual preconceived dive. Hurdlers coming off the last hurdle and pressing too hard sometimes lose their form and leaning for the line before they have restabilized causes falls.

One sprinter tried it and his dingalibling got badly trackburned, which was quite surreal for the supposedly real man, so now others are more cautious. Unless they are wearing an ell guard.

It would be slower to dive in a 100M. A common mistake is leaning to early. It is important to run fast until leaning on the last stride.

Uhhhhh you have to have feet on the ground to sprint fast

Charles Paddock the 1920 Olympic 100m champ was known for his dive at the tape he had it down. Dude tied the 9.6 100 yard record 7 times.

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Little Paddock story, kinda.

Paddock planned on winning that 200m also, enter Allan Woodring an alternate who was only there because of an illness. Yep, you guessed it the alternate won the gold beating "The Worlds Fastest Human".

Probably same for baseball:

Generally, it is faster to run through first base than to dive or slide into it. Sliding, especially head-first, can actually decrease speed due to friction and potential awkward landings.

There is a difference between lunging/diving for the line, leaning too early and thus falling through the line, and finally what a sprinter needs; the perfect lean at the line. As mentioned by others the lunge/dive process is slower than running through the line. In order to lunge/dive the body takes a penultimate step (gather) which slows the sprinter. What is often mistaken for a lunge/ dive is the athlete losing their balance because they leaned too early. This mistake besides being slower often results in dramatic face and body plants on the track. The drama and crowd reactions often disguise the resulting loss of speed, but when final analysis investigate the race the athlete lost speed as their torso dropped altitude across the line as opposed to continuing the previous path.

Race starts at 7:16 and Tori dives for the win.

Ta Lou always so near yet so far. Always root for her.

Incorrect. This old theory has been debunked. It's faster to dive but make sure to start the dive closer to the bag to avoid unnecessary ground friction.

"Maximize Ground Time and Minimize Air Time!"

If the study you are citing is from “Baseball con Ciencia." That study by the Rivas father and son duo is theoretical. "However, a new way of thinking about the physical effects on the runner as he dives through the bag — pioneered by the father/son duo that make up “Baseball con Ciencia” — shows that the diving runner could close the distance to the first base bag at a faster rate. Theoretically." Two key principles in their theory are that (1) gravity increases horizontal speed, and (2) that in preparation for the dive, the base runner lengthens their stride giving a 10 cm advantage over the runner. First, their theory, as detailed by Rivas uses physics professor Alan Nathan's air friction impact research on bats and baseballs, not humans. Second, Physicists Feynman and Kepler do not support the theory that horizontal speed increases due to gravity. Third, Alan Nathan's support was "Nathan, when contacted, felt it is possible that, under the right conditions, the diver could beat the runner." Now, remember Alan Nathan's studies reference bat and baseball work not human speed and Nathan lukewarm support is contrary to Feynman and Kepler. Nathan theorized that the torque created in preparation for the dive could account for arriving at first base before a runner. Lastly, as every hurdle coach in the country will confirm a hurdler's air time over a hurdle slows the hurdler. Hence why the athlete needs to get their lead foot back on the track ASAP.

because it's a 10, 11 second race run at full speed and if you gathered yourself to leap you'd lose tenths while trying to gain position, in a race where everyone within 10m of you is within a second. as the one poster compared it, you're better off running through the base than sliding.

it works in low hurdles and distance because you're exhausted, the race is slower, and the combination of changing your alignment to the tape and doing a burst might make a marginal difference, and you're not losing as much by the effort needed to "load the spring."

that and over the 4 years i did hurdles a couple times i finished on my belly after dead-legging the last hurdle, and basically sliding to make sure i crossed the line.

Worth noting that touching a baseball base (with hand or foot) is different from getting your torso across the plane of the finish line, so the arguments for or against one don't necessarily apply to the other.

Exactly.

Sliding slightly lowers the horizontal velocity of the center of mass, but it lengthens the distance of the foot or hand in front of the center of mass. The reason most base runners do not slide into first (except to avoid a tag from a fielder who is not at the base) is that the cumulative risk of injury is high.