Sprints, crouch starts and relay baton passing

1Sprints: 100 m, 200 m and 400 m

A sprint is a race run at top speed. The three Olympic sprints are the 100 m, 200 m and 400 m. Races up to 100 m are mostly about speeding up as fast as you can. Longer sprints also need some stamina, because it is hard to keep your top speed for long.

• 100 m: one straight. Run flat out all the way and through the finish line.
• 200 m: starts on a bend. Lean slightly into the bend and keep your arms driving.
• 400 m: a whole lap of a 400 m track. Run fast but relaxed for the first 300 m, then drive your arms and knees hard to hold your speed in the last 100 m.

In every sprint you stay in your own lane. In the 200 m and 400 m the runners start at different places, called a staggered start. This is because the outside lanes go further round the bends, so the stagger makes everyone run the same distance.

2Warm up

Jog 2 laps, then do 20 m each of high knees, heel flicks, skips and side-steps. Finish with 3 build-up runs: start slowly and get faster over 30 m.

3The crouch start

Top sprinters start from a crouch, pushing off from starting blocks. Before blocks were used, runners dug small holes in the track with a little shovel to push their feet against! You can crouch start on grass without blocks.

1. "On your marks": put your front foot about two foot-lengths behind the line and your back knee on the ground beside your front foot. Put your hands just behind the line, shoulder-width apart, thumbs and fingers making a bridge. Look down, head relaxed.
2. "Set": lift your hips until they are a little higher than your shoulders. Lean your weight forward over your hands. Keep perfectly still.
3. "Go!": push hard with both legs and drive your arms. Stay low for your first few steps, then slowly rise to running tall.

Moving before "Go!" is a false start.

4Relay races

In a relay, a team of four runners take turns. Each part of the race is called a leg. The two main relays are the 4 × 100 m and the 4 × 400 m. Each runner carries a baton, a short tube, and hands it to the next runner.

• The baton must be passed inside the changeover zone. In the 4 × 100 m, the zone has been 30 m long since November 2017 (before that it was a 20 m box with a 10 m zone before it).
• A team is disqualified if the baton is passed outside the zone.
• If a runner drops the baton, the team is not disqualified for that. The runner who dropped it picks it up and carries on, but a lot of time is lost.
• Good passing is worth a lot: a relay team's time is usually 2 to 3 seconds faster than the four runners' own best times added together, because each new runner is already running fast when the baton arrives.

5The baton pass, step by step

1. Hands: runners 1 and 3 carry the baton in their right hand and run on the inside of the lane. Runners 2 and 4 take it in their left hand. So the baton changes hands at every pass.
2. Check mark: the next runner waits in the zone, looking back. When the incoming runner reaches a check mark you have practised, the next runner turns and sprints away.
3. "Stick!": the incoming runner shouts "Stick!". The outgoing runner reaches back with a straight arm, palm open and facing back, and does not look back.
4. Push it in: the incoming runner pushes the baton firmly into the open hand and lets go only when the other runner is holding it.

Beginners can do a looking pass: the outgoing runner jogs while watching the baton come in, as runners do in longer relays. Try the "blind" pass when you are ready.

6Drills and games

• Standing passes: a team of four stands in a line, about 2 m apart, arms swinging as if running. On "Stick!", pass the baton up the line: right hand, left hand, right hand, left hand.
• Walk, jog, run: practise the pass walking, then jogging, then running, inside a zone marked with cones or stones.
• Relay race: 4 × 50 m or 4 × 100 m around the field, with a chalk zone at each changeover.

No baton? Roll up a newspaper tightly and tape it, or use a short, smooth piece of bamboo or plastic pipe about 30 cm long.

7Cool down

Walk a slow lap. Stretch your calves, the front and back of your thighs, and your hips. Drink water.

Try it yourself

Try each one first, then tap Show answer to check.