Influence of triceps surae electromechanical delay on movement responses in the sprint start event

This study examined the delay in sprint start performance related to electromechanical delay (EMD) in the triceps surae muscle and aimed to determine whether sprinters may gain an advantage in sprint start response time (SSRT). SSRT’s of nineteen sprinters were measured using an International Association of Athletics Federations approved SSRT detection system. EMD times were also obtained from the triceps surae muscle during a simple heel-lift experiment. Using Brosnan et al. (2016) response time limits, the results demonstrated that EMD produced a significant moderate correlation with SSRT (r = 0.572, P = 0.01). Initial results suggest EMD influences SSRT. However greater specificity in the EMD measurement to the sprint start action is required to determine the true effects of EMD on SSRT.