This article is written with enough depth for biomechanics experts, elite coaches, and World Athletics officials to critically engage with it—while still remaining accessible to the average reader who may not be interested in complex scientific language but loves the sport and its stars

The Sprinting Edge That Escaped the Rulebook

What if the most electrifying event in global athletics — the 100m sprint — isn’t as equal as we  think? 

Not because of doping. 

Not false starts. 

Not faulty starting block sensors. 

But because of something so visually subtle, yet biomechanically legal — it escaped scrutiny  for decades.

The torso lean at the start line.

In race after race, frame after frame, some athletes begin the race with their torsos projected several centimeters beyond the starting line — and it’s completely within the rules. 

But here’s the twist: the torso is also the only body part that stops the clock and gives official World Athletics approved times/results. 

So why aren’t we starting the race at the same anatomical reference point we use to end it? 

Over the last 30 years, championship races have been won and lost by margins as small as 0.001  seconds — barely enough time to blink. 

Could a subtle torso lean at the start line decide gold versus silver? 

Multi-million dollar careers versus a forgotten fourth place? 

This isn’t just an observation. 

It’s a question — maybe the most important one track and field hasn’t asked. 

Until now.

THE RULE AND THE LOOPHOLE:

What the Books  Say

According to World Athletics Competition Rules:

Rule 163.2 – The Finish of a Race

“The athletes shall be placed in the order in which any part of their torso (as distinguished from the head, neck, arms, legs, hands, or feet) reaches the vertical plane of the nearer edge of the finish line.”

Key Clarification:

• Torso is defined in the World Athletics Glossary as the part of the body excluding the head, neck, arms, legs, hands, or feet.

• This means only the torso counts for determining who crosses the finish line first — not a hand or head.

This rule governs all sprint and distance events on the track, from the 100m to long-distance races.

The glaring issue, and Loophole:

There is no stipulation about where the torso must be placed at the start

— only that the hands must be behind the line. 

So technically, in the “on your mark position”

• Arms behind the line? You’re good. 

• Feet behind the line?  You’re still good. 

And in the: “Set Positon”?

 Torso already 5–12cm beyond the start line? 

No problem!… You’re still good. 

This creates a fascinating biomechanical paradox: 

• Start line: arms matter. 

• Finish line: arms don’t. 

The torso matters! 

HOW MUCH DOES IT MATTER? 

Let’s quantify it: 

• Elite sprinters take 43–48 strides in a 100m race. 

• A 5cm torso lean means the athlete is starting 0.05m ahead. 

• Over 100m, that’s 0.05% of the race — or roughly 0.005–0.01 seconds in saved time depending on acceleration dynamics. 

And this matters a lot. 

Here’s why: 

Races Decided by Fractions of a Second: A Closer Look

Track and field has delivered some of the closest finishes in all of sport — races won or lost by margins so thin, they often escape the naked eye.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the most razor-thin outcomes in athletics history:

Liu Xiang vs. Ladji Doucouré – 110m Hurdles, 2005 World Championships

• Margin: 0.01 seconds
• Result: France’s Ladji Doucouré edged out China’s Liu Xiang for gold, 13.07 to 13.08 seconds, in a dramatic finish.
  
  

Maurice Greene vs. British Relay Team – 4x100m Relay, 2004 Athens Olympics

• Margin: 0.01 seconds
• Result: The British team narrowly beat the U.S. squad anchored by Maurice Greene, 38.07 to 38.08 seconds.
  
  

Akani Simbine – 100m Final, 2024 Paris Olympics

• Margin: 0.01 seconds
• Result: South Africa’s Akani Simbine finished fourth, missing out on a bronze medal by just 0.01 seconds.
  
  

Jeneba Tarmoh vs. Allyson Felix – 100m, 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials

• Margin: 0.000 seconds (exact tie)
• Result: Both sprinters clocked 11.068 seconds, leading to a rare tie for the final Olympic team spot. Tarmoh later withdrew from a proposed runoff.
  
  

Sherone Simpson & Kerron Stewart – 100m Final, 2008 Beijing Olympics

• Margin: 0.000 seconds (exact tie)
• Result: The two Jamaican sprinters shared the silver medal after both finished in 10.98 seconds — part of a historic Jamaican podium sweep.
  

Patrizia Van der Weken vs. Ewa Swoboda – 60m Indoor Race

• Margin: 0.01 seconds
• Result: Van der Weken narrowly defeated Swoboda in a tightly contested 60m dash.
  

Kenny Bednarek – 100m, 2024 Grand Slam Track Meet (Jamaica)

• Margin: 0.01 seconds
• Result: Bednarek clinched victory in the 100m, crossing the line just 0.01 seconds ahead of Oblique Seville.
  
  

Mamie Rallins – 100m Hurdles Semifinal, 1972 Munich Olympics

• Margin: 0.001 seconds
• Result: Rallins missed advancing to the final by just 0.001 seconds, finishing seventh in her semifinal.

And in Indoor Championships?

There are countless races with finishes decided by 0.002–0.007 seconds

In some cases, the difference between a national hero and an anonymous finalist could literally be 5cm of torso lean at the start of the race.

CASE STUDY: KISHANE THOMPSON 

— The star with lots of room for improvement

What does the mean for track and field?

We the fans? = Excitement

For his competitors? = It doesn’t look good.

Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson entered the 2024 Olympic season as one of the most exciting sprinting talents. 

His 9.77s performance shook the world — smooth, seemingly effortless. 

But in the Paris final, he placed 2nd — missing the Gold medal by 0.005 seconds. 

What might have happened? 

1. Set Position: Torso behind the line?

Hard to say

*NOTE: It was challenging to find side-view start-line videos of Kishane.

The picture below is the best so far.

And we can ascertain based on this that he doesn’t have a pronounced forward lean as his competitors

Thompson’s start footage shows a more conservative torso position than competitors. 

• Estimated 2–6cm disadvantage. 

• In a race decided by 0.005s — that’s significant. 

2. Start Reaction Coordination

Whether a human being is walking, jogging or sprinting.

The universal principle holds true that opposite limbs work with one another to counterbalance movements.

This basically means that if the right foot goes forward → the left hand goes forward

If the left foot goes forward → the right hand goes forward. 

Normally we don’t think about this much, as regular folks, it just happens naturally.

However in the realm of elite high performance professional sports, such as sprinting, ANY small inefficient micro movement could have HUGE repercussions when the margins between 1st and 2nd can be determined by centimeters or millimeters.

The annotated pictures below will show some “small inefficiencies” I have observed with Kishane recently.

Simply Put:

Training and competition videos reveal slight miscoordination between the hands and legs in response to the starter’s gun.

3. Heel Contact at Max Speed 

Frame-by-frame breakdown reveals Thompson’s heel makes contact during top-end  sprinting.

Heel striking at speed = braking effect = loss of horizontal force.

Heel Strike: 

#1. increases ground contact time

#2. Absorbs and dissipates energy 

– Hunter et al. (2004): braking effect measurable in force plate studies 

– Weyand et al. (2000): top speed determined by vertical force application, not turnover  rate

– Weyand et al. (2000), J. Applied Physiology, Hunter et al. (2004), Journal of Biomechanics

 THIS IS WHY KISHANE IS DANGEROUS

He’s already at 9.77 — with: 

• “Suboptimal torso projection” at the start  – if you want to call this a thing/advantage 

• Slight synchronization inefficiency between the legs and hands while reacting to the gun 

• Heel slamming into the ground at max speed.

He hasn’t hit his ceiling just yet.

Management of Injuries

Based on what has already been publicly disclosed by Kishane’s management team, my understanding is that he suffers from recurring shin pain.

This issue affects his training volume, intensity, and—by extension—his progression.

However, if there’s any track and field coach on the planet I’d trust to prepare an athlete to become a world-beater despite a fairly debilitating chronic injury, it’s Dr. Stephen Francis.

For those who may not know, Dr. Francis was the coach responsible for guiding Elaine Thompson-Herah, the fastest woman alive, to her blistering 10.54 seconds in the 100m—while managing a potentially career-ending injury.

After leaving MVP Track Club, Elaine has yet to replicate anything close to that level of success.

And with all due respect—at the risk of to quite literally “add insult to injury,” Elaine has yet to publicly compete in a professional race during the 2025 track and field season (though I fully stand to be corrected).

This alone is a testament to Dr. Francis’ genius—not just in preparing athletes to run fast, but in helping injured athletes improve over the course of their careers.

Having said all that, with Dr. Stephen Francis and the MVP Track Club in charge of Kishane’s preparation, I’m confident these technical issues will be addressed.

And when those issues are systematically resolved…

Dare I say it—sub-9.60 in the men’s 100m is not hype.

It is a genuine possibility, barring any unforeseen setbacks with Kishane.

---

Heel Contact: A Pet Peeve

This next point is a bit of a personal rant—not just as a coach, but as a purist.

It bothers me that heel contact during sprinting—which I believe should be a relatively simple fix—continues to plague so many athletes.

And yet, so many fall victim to a flaw that clearly robs them of top-end speed, especially in the speed maintenance phase of sprinting.

Let’s be clear:

• Should there be a slight heel drop after initial ground contact during the stance phase?
  Yes.
• Should the heel actually touch the ground during the amortization phase?
  No.

Why not?

Because that would bleed stored elastic energy from the muscles, tendons, and fascia—resulting in power loss.

The heel should descend, but it should hover just above the ground, so that it can rebound and return the maximum stored energy possible.

This is what completes an efficient stretch-shortening reflex, or what many refer to as the ‘plyometric cycle” of the stance leg.

More Athletes Affected

The following is a partial list of athletes I’ve observed exhibiting the “heel-touching” issue during sprinting.

Note: This is by no means an exhaustive list—just those whose videos I happened to come across and took the time to slow down and analyze.

As mentioned earlier, only names are listed to allow coaches, analysts, and enthusiasts to search and review the footage themselves, rather than sifting through countless random videos.

• Shericka Jackson
• Akeera Nugent
• Asafa Powell
• Julian Forte
• Natasha Morrison

RULES VS REALITY: SHOULD WE RETHINK THE  START LINE? 

Is Torso Lean Legal?

Yes.

As long as the hands remain behind the line, the torso is allowed to project forward at the start.

But is it fair?

That’s a tougher question.

We use the torso to determine finishes.

Yet, we allow different torso positions at the start.

In a sport where milliseconds decide medals, is that inconsistency truly acceptable?

Over the years, there have been several attempted rule changes in track and field.

Some stuck—and made the sport better.

But this issue leaves us with an open question:

How could this be fairly and effectively addressed by the leadership at World Athletics?

Honestly… my best answer for now is:

I don’t know.

There are multiple challenges to consider with any proposed rule, whether technical or technological—especially when it comes to global enforcement at every level of the sport.

There’s also the weight of history to consider.

Any change would force us to re-examine performances and legacies across eras.

Which raises a provocative question:

Are we supposed to undermine Usain Bolt’s world records because he’s 6’5”—and that extra height may have allowed him to lean farther over the start line than his competitors?

…..I’d rather not even entertain the idea.

WHY NO ONE’S TALKING ABOUT THIS 

• TV cameras rarely show side views at Set 

• Officials focus on false starts, not geometric fairness 

• It’s legal — so no one questions it 

• No governing body has incentive to disrupt tradition unless pushed by biomechanical  evidence.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF FRACTIONAL  LOSSES 

Let’s break this down with real-world context: 

 Major Championship Medalists 

• Gold medal: $75,000–$150,000 from World Athletics

• National bonuses: USA (up to $37,500 USD)? 

* Sponsorship potential: 6- to 7-figure Nike, Puma, Adidas deals… Millions lost! Or gained?  

 Or worse — 4th? 

• Silver: ~$30,000 LESS in prize money 

• Bonuses cut by 40–60% 

• Brand interest is significantly lower for second or third places compared to 1st place.

Athletes Affected by Milliseconds

• Justin Gatlin (2015 Worlds) lost ~$100,000+ in race winnings and endorsement value by  finishing 0.01s behind Bolt 

• Allyson Felix (2016 Rio) missed gold and was denied a historic double when Miller-Uibo  dove/fell to beat her by 0.07s 

• Yohan Blake (2012 Olympics): finished 0.11s behind Bolt, but had same start phase — lost tens of millions in long-term brand deals 

When a torso lean accounts for 5–10cm — that might be the difference in earnings that fund an  athlete’s career.  

  FINAL WORD 

A Call to Collaborate

The author is currently facilitating:

• Potential academic research partnerships
  For a proposed study investigating the biomechanics and implications of torso placement in sprint starts. Universities, sports science departments, or graduate students with an interest in motion analysis, sprint mechanics, or performance optimization are invited to connect.

• Expert discussions and peer input
  Seeking perspectives from seasoned professionals in sprint coaching, kinesiology, biomechanics, or motion capture technology to stress test the article’s hypotheses.
  

• Access to data or footage
  Welcoming access to high-frame-rate video, race footage, or sprint datasets — particularly those showing athlete positions at the “Set” position and during the finish.
  

• Commentary
  Interested in interviewing or quoting experts who can offer insight into the implications of torso-driven timing in elite sprinting, historical precedents, or rule interpretations.

This article seeks clarity, not controversy.

It’s about precision.

We hold deep respect for every athlete mentioned—especially Kishane Thompson, who may be one of the most dangerous sprinters of the next era.

But in a sport decided by milliseconds and millimeters, it’s only fair to ask:

What does an equal start truly mean?

Let’s measure what matters—from start to finish.

Written by: 
Omar Bryan
Head Coach – [Munro College Track & Field] | Sprint Analyst | Observer of the Obvioushttps://www.instagram.com/plyo_coach
For biomechanical inquiries or physical development programs: [plyocoach0211@gmail.com]