This is not based on any kind of empirical evidence at all, but I have noticed that a substancial number of elite sprinters have gone from running 10.5 to running 10.1 - 10.2 in the course of one year.
What could be the reason for this? Is it that at a certain training-age and level of fitness the very talented ones are bound to experience this kind of improvement?
Which sprinters are you reffering to specifically? I have not noticed this trend.
I’m sorry, I managed to confuse myself when writing that post . What I am getting at is that most elite sprinters seem to take that last step needed to get close to 10-flat in one large stride.
Some random examples:
Boldon: 1993 10.23 - 1994 10.07
Powell: 2001 10.50 - 2002 10.12
Gardener: 998 10.17 - 1999 9.98
Gatlin: 2000 10.36 - 2001 10.08
Zakari: 1998 10.29 - 1999 10.08
Collins: 1999 10.21 - 2000 10.02
Brown: 2001 10.24 - 2002 10.09
Aliu: 1994 10.17 - 1995 10.02
Maybe it has more to do with when they began to train with a professional/full-time focus.
That cold be it. Dont be fooled by the progression into believing theres a secret answer. Some of these guys have tons of natural talent. They party and bullshit thru HS and college. Then when they get a good coach and proper support they become elite world cup contenders. Ive seen mid 10 sprinters get away with doing a few drills and a couple of tempo sessions every now and then and still run fast. Thats just the breaks!!!
Most of the examples listed were very young guys when they made their break throughs, the same thing doesn’t seem to happen for older sprinters (although Bruny Surin comes to mind).