The 2009 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin presented German sport scientists with a rare opportunity to study the world’s best athletes in a top-level competition at a venue close to home. A team of 18 researchers from six institutions around the country planned, organised and carried out a major biomechanics research project at the championships with the support of the German athletic federation (DLV) and the IAAF.
The project’s objectives included making detailed analysis of the finals of all the individual sprint and hurdle events for both men and women. Video recordings using digital camcorders positioned in the stands around the track were made in order to obtain split times of the races and study other aspects such as stride length and stride frequency. In addition, laser measurement systems were used to obtain continuous velocity measurements in the men’s 100m final.
This report, prepared specially for NSA, provides analysis and commentary on the data obtained by the project team, with sections on each of the events. In addition, there is a special analysis of the men’s 100m final based on the laser measurement data.