Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an opponent. Human physiology dictates that a runner's near-top speed cannot be maintained for more than 30–35 seconds due to the depletion of phosphocreatine stores in muscles, and perhaps secondarily to excessive metabolic acidosis as a result of anaerobic glycolysis.
Simo Häyhä, often referred to by his nickname, The White Death, was a Finnish military sniper during World War II in the 1939–1940 Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union. He used a Finnish-produced M/28-30 rifle and a Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun. Häyhä is believed to have killed over 500 enemy soldiers during the conflict, the highest number of sniper kills in any major war. Consequently, he is often regarded as the deadliest sniper in history.
Colin Ray Jackson, is a Welsh former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. During a career in which he represented Great Britain and Wales, he won an Olympic silver medal, became world champion twice, world indoor champion once, was undefeated at the European Championships for 12 years and was twice Commonwealth champion. His world record of 12.91 seconds for the 110 m hurdles stood for nearly 13 years and his 60 metres hurdles world record stood for nearly 27 years.
The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League.
60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the middle of the 'field', as is the hurdles event over the same distance, thus avoiding some of the effects of the banked track encircling the venue, upon which other track events in indoor events are run. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes. The format of the event is similar to other sprint distances. The sprinters follow three initial instructions: 'on your marks', instructing them to take up position in the starting blocks; 'set', instructing them to adopt a more efficient starting posture, which also isometrically preloads their muscles. This will enable them to start faster. The final instruction is the firing of the starter's pistol. Upon hearing this the sprinters stride forwards from the blocks.
Martyn Joseph Rooney is an English sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres event. He reached the 400 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics and won bronze in the 4×400 metres relay. A mainstay on the anchor leg of the Great Britain and England 4 x 400 metre relay teams, at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics he won a silver medal with the Great Britain relay team, and bronze in the 2015 and 2017 World Championships.
Giovanni "Gianni" Puggioni is a former Italian sprinter who specialized in the 200 metres.
The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less important since the late 1990s, as an increasing number of runners have surpassed the ten seconds mark. The current men's world record holder is Usain Bolt, who ran a 9.58 at the 2009 IAAF World Championship competition.
Ramil Guliyev is an Azerbaijani-born Turkish sprinter. He competes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. At the 2017 World Championships, Guliyev became the World Champion in the 200 metres, winning Turkey's first ever gold medal in the World Championships. His club is Fenerbahçe Athletics. In 2018, he won the gold medal in the 200 metres at the European Championships.
Balázs Baji is a Hungarian track and field athlete who specializes in the 60 metres hurdles and 110 metres hurdles.
Warren Weir is a retired Jamaican sprinter, who specialized in the 200 metres. He was the bronze medallist in the event at the 2012 London Olympics, helping Jamaica sweep the medals. In 2013 at the Moscow World Championships, Warren Weir won the silver medal equalling his personal best. He finished behind Usain Bolt who set a World Leading time. His personal best is 19.79 seconds set at the National Stadium in his home country Kingston, Jamaica. He has since equalled his personal best in Moscow, in the World Championship final. He trained with the Glen Mills-coached Racers Track Club, alongside Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake.
Liemarvin Bonevacia is a Dutch sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. He won bronze medals in the event at the 2016 and 2024 European Athletics Championships, and the 2017 and 2021 European Indoor Championships. Bonevacia also earned five major medals for the 4 × 400 m relays, either men's or mixed, including silver medal in the men's relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Hassan Taftian is an Iranian sprinter. He is an olympic sprinter that represented Iran at Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, and Paris 2024. He represented his country at four outdoor and three indoor World Championships.
Wayde van Niekerk is a South African track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. In the 400 metres, he is the current world and Olympic record holder, having set the record when he won the event at the 2016 Olympics.
Matthew Hudson-Smith is a British track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres and is the 5th fastest athlete of all-time over the distance. As of September 2024 he is ranked as the number one 400m runner in the world and has won six British titles, two individual European titles, an individual Olympic silver medal, World Championships silver and bronze individual medals and an individual Commonwealth silver medal. He has also won a number of relay titles including an Olympic bronze medal, World Championships bronze medal, two European gold medals, one European silver medal, one European bronze medal and a Commonwealth Games gold medal.. Hudson-Smith also holds the European and British 4x400m records (2:55.83) along with the GB Team who ran in the final of the men's 4x400m event in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Shadrack Kipchirchir is a Kenyan-born American distance track and field Olympian specializing in the 10,000 m. Following in his brothers footsteps, Kipchirchir enlisted in the U.S. Army in October 2014 and joined the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program after his enlistment.
The 2017 European Athletics U23 Championships were the 11th edition of the biennial athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty-three. It was held in Bydgoszcz, Poland from 13 to 16 July. This was the second time that the competition was hosted by Bydgoszcz after the 2003 edition.
Marc Scott is a British long-distance runner. He took his first global medal with bronze in the 3000 metres at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. He is the European indoor record holder for the 5000 metres.
Lipsanen is a Finnish surname. Notable people with the surname include:
