Why is the record for 200m less than half that of 100m (for athletics)?

Question

*less than twice i mean

Answer 1

I have heard many runners say they are just hitting top speed at about 100 m. I recall a race a few years ago between Michael Johnson and someone else ran at 150 m because both believed that was their optimal distance.

Answer 2

I presume you're asking why the record for the 100m is more than half that for the 200 m.

Think about the athlete's acceleration. They typically spend the first 50 m or so (open to correction here) coming up to top running speed which they maintain for the duration of the race.

When there is a 200 m race, the second 100 m section is ran at a faster pace than the first 100 m, as they are now running at top speed.

This causes the time for the 100 m to be slower than for the 200 m.

Answer 3

I assume you mean why is the record for 200m slightly more than double that of 100m (I doubt anyone has run 200m in under 5 seconds, rather they run 200m in about 20 seconds and 100m in 9 seconds).

The answer is that a person can put in a large burst of speed for a very short period but cannot sustain that speed. So he can run very fast for the few seconds it takes to reach 100m but cannot keep going that fast for the 20 seconds to reach 200m.

Answer 4

The acceleration is the same for both. This is in distance and time that it is the same.
For a 200 m run the percent of the run that is at full speed is greater than the 100 m run.

Answer 5

You enter the second half with a running start.