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Overground sprint studies have shown the importance of net horizontal ground reaction force impulse (IMP_H) for acceleration performance, but only investigated one or two steps over the acceleration phase, and not in elite sprinters. The main aim of this study was to distinguish between propulsive (IMP_H+) and braking (IMP_H−) components of the IMP_H and seek whether, for an expected higher IMP_H, faster elite sprinters produce greater IMP_H+, smaller IMP_H−, or both.

Nine high-level sprinters (100-m best times range: 9.95–10.60 s) performed 7 sprints (2×10 m, 2×15 m, 20 m, 30 m and 40 m) during which ground reaction force was measured by a 6.60 m force platform system. By placing the starting-blocks further from the force plates at each trial, and pooling the data, we could assess the mechanics of an entire “virtual” 40-m acceleration.

IMP_H and IMP_H+ were significantly correlated with 40-m mean speed (r=0 …