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.
Roger Anthony BlackMBE is an English former athlete who competed internationally for Great Britain and England. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic Games and World Championships, two individual gold medals at the European Championships, and 4 × 400 metres relay gold medals at both the World and European Championships.
Kathryn Jane Cook is a former elite athlete, specialising in sprint and sprint relays. She is one of the most successful female sprinters in British athletics history. She is three-times an Olympic bronze medallist, including at 400 metres in Los Angeles 1984. Her other individual achievements include winning the 200m at the 1981 Universiade, finishing second in the 100m at the 1981 World Cup, and winning a bronze medal in the 200m at the 1983 World Championships. She is also three-times a winner of the British Athletics Writers' Association Female Athlete of the Year Award (1980–82).
Erwin Richard Skamrahl is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the 200 and 400 metres.
Bruce Frayne is a retired Australian sprinter who specialized in the 200 and 400 metres. He was Australian Champion in the 200 metres 1980, 81, and 1983. He also won the 400 metres in 1984. In 1981 he won Gold in the 4 × 400 relay at the Pacific Conference Games, and he won silver in the 200 metres.
Denise Margaret Robertson-Boyd is an Australian former Olympic sprinter, who reached two Olympic finals in the 200 metres sprint. The first was Montreal 1976, then Moscow 1980. She was also a member of the Australian sprint relay team, that reached the final in 1976.
Zuzana Hejnová is a retired Czech athlete who specialised in the 400 metres hurdles. She won the silver medal in the event at the 2012 London Olympics. Hejnová is a two-time World Champion, having claimed titles at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships in Athletics. She won bronze at the 2012 European Championships and silver for the 400 metres at the 2017 European Indoor Championships.
Tristan Thomas is an Australian track and field athlete specialising in the 400 metres hurdles.
Michael Bingham is an American-born British 400 metres track and field athlete. The silver medalist in the individual 400 metres at the 2010 European Championships, his most notable successes came as a long-time member of the Great Britain and England 4 x 400 metre relay squads. A European indoor, European outdoor and Commonwealth Games champion in the long relay, Bingham won medals at every major indoor and outdoor championships available to him, winning Olympic bronze in 2008, World outdoor silver and World indoor silver (twice), in addition to the gold medals at European and Commonwealth Games level.
Anna Kiełbasińska is a Polish sprinter who competed occasionally also in hurdling events. She won the bronze medal in the 400 metres as well as silver medals in the 4 x 100 m and 4 x 400 m relays at the 2022 European Championships. Kiełbasińska earned bronze for the 400 m at the 2023 European Indoor Championships. She won several major medals as part of Polish 4 x 400 m relay teams and also individual medals at European Under-20 and U23 Championships.
Emily Diamond is a British track and field athlete, who competes in the 200 metres and 400 metres. Diamond came to prominence in her breakout season of 2016 when, following her first win at the British Championships over the 400 metres distance, she collected a gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2016 European Athletics Championships as part of the Great Britain team, followed by a bronze in the same discipline at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
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.
Iga Baumgart-Witan is a Polish sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. She won several medals at major championships as part of Polish 4 × 400 metres relays, including a gold in the mixed relay and a silver in the women's relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Norfalia Carabalí Villegas is a retired sprinter who competed predominantly in the 400 metres. She represented her native Colombia for most of her career before changing allegiance to Spain in 2000. She competed at three Summer Olympics, in 1988, 1992 and 2000, as well as five World Championships. Her biggest success was reaching the final at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart. In addition, she won multiple medals at regional level.
Matthew Hudson-Smith is a British track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. He holds, as of July 2024, the British and European record, running a personal best of 43.74 seconds for the distance at the London Diamond League. He was the 2018 European Champion in 400 metres, and a member of the gold-winning teams in the 4 x 400 metre relay at the 2014 European Athletics Championships, with Great Britain and 2014 Commonwealth Games with England.
Shericka Jackson is a Jamaican sprinter competing in the 60 m, 100 m, 200 m, and 400 metres. In the 100 m, she’s the fifth fastest woman of all time, while in the 200 m, she’s the second fastest woman in history.
Jeroen Fischer is a retired Belgian sprinter and long jumper.
Gusztáv Menczer is a Hungarian former sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres. He represented his country at the 1983 World Championships and 1989 World Indoor Championships.
Sakie Nobuoka is a Japanese former sprinter who specialised in the 200 metres. She represented her country at three outdoor and one indoor World Championships. She held the national records in the 200 metres, the 4 × 100 metres relay and the 4 × 400 metres relay.
João Pedro Ferreira is a Portuguese former athlete who competed primarily in the 400 metres hurdles. He represented his country in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2011 World Championships without qualifying for the final.
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