Track event rules: starts, lanes, hurdles, relays and finishes

1One tenth of a second

Starting blocks at major championships contain pressure sensors. If a sprinter pushes against them less than 0.100 s after the gun, the start information system signals a false start, because research on human reaction time shows that nobody can genuinely hear the gun and react that fast: the athlete must have anticipated it. One false start means disqualification. Athletics rules are full of precise numbers like this, and an official must know them exactly. This lesson follows the World Athletics Competition and Technical Rules, 2026 edition, for the track events.

2The track

Lanes are 1.22 m wide (± 0.01 m), including the line on the right. Lane 1 is measured 0.30 m outward from the kerb; every other lane is measured 0.20 m from the outer edge of the line on its inside. Athletes run anti-clockwise, with the infield on their left.

3Starts

• In races up to and including 400 m (and the first leg of the 4 × 200 m, the Medley Relay and the 4 × 400 m), a crouch start from starting blocks is compulsory. The commands are "On your marks" and "Set": in the set position both hands stay on the ground and both feet on the blocks.
• Longer races start from a standing position, with the single command "On your marks".
• Except in combined events, any athlete responsible for a false start is disqualified; the starter's assistant raises a red and black card in front of them. In combined events (decathlon, heptathlon) the first false start in a race brings a warning to the whole field, shown by a yellow and black card; whoever false-starts after that is disqualified.

4Lanes

In races run in lanes, each athlete stays in the allocated lane from start to finish. An athlete is disqualified for running on or inside the line on the left on a bend, with exceptions: being pushed by another athlete, stepping outside the lane on a straight or outside the outer line on a bend, or touching the line on the left once, provided no one is obstructed and no material advantage is gained. In an event with several rounds, that single touch is allowed only once in all the rounds together.

5Hurdles

Each race has 10 hurdles. Knocking a hurdle over is not in itself a foul. An athlete is disqualified for trailing a foot or leg beside the hurdle below the height of its top bar, for knocking it down with the hand, the body or the front of the lead leg, or for knocking a hurdle down in a way that affects another athlete.

6Relays

• In the 4 × 100 m and 4 × 200 m, each takeover zone is 30 m long, with the scratch line (the true leg distance) 20 m from its start. In the 4 × 400 m the zone is 20 m long, centred on the scratch line.
• The outgoing runner's feet must be completely inside the zone when they start to move.
• The pass begins when the receiver first touches the baton and ends when only the receiver holds it. Only the position of the baton decides whether the pass was inside the zone; a pass outside it disqualifies the team.
• A dropped baton must be picked up by the athlete who dropped it, without shortening the distance or impeding anyone.
• Athletes may place one check-mark of tape, at most 0.05 m × 0.40 m, in their own lane.

7Finish, timing and wind

Athletes are placed in the order in which their torso reaches the vertical plane of the nearer edge of the finish line: a dipped head or an outstretched arm does not count. Fully automatic (photo-finish) times are read to 0.001 s and recorded to the next longer 0.01 s, so 10.111 s becomes 10.12 s. For a record in the 100 m, 200 m, 100 m and 110 m hurdles, long jump and triple jump, the following wind may average no more than +2.0 m s⁻¹; in the 100 m it is measured for 10 s from the gun.