MECHAPHYSPRINT - BIOMECHANICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF SPRINT PERFORMANCEPhD dissertation by Edson Soares da Silva

Supervisors:  Jeremy ROSSI

Be it is the main event in athletics, or a key function in team sports such as football or rugby, acceleration capacity is one of the main determinants of sprint performance. However, although the scientific literature is abundant on the subject, it addresses the determinants of sprint performance in isolation. Thus, we know very little about the link between kinetic (production of propulsive force on the ground), kinematic (movement technique and segmental movements) and energetic (energy cost of sprinting) parameters.

What movement pattern allows the production of efficient propulsive forces for sprint performance, and at what energetic cost? This lack of knowledge is due in particular to the experimental challenge of bringing together in the same place all the tools and skills necessary for the implementation of such a study, around a form of human locomotion at high speed, widely used in sport. , but complex to study.

The mechanical factors of sprint performance can be understood both in laboratory and field conditions, which allows exploring another unknown on the biomechanical and physiological differences between sprint efforts performed on the treadmill and on the treadmill. ground or track. In this context, one of the applications of this project will be to study the effects of sports practice (athletics vs soccer) based on biomechanical and energetic analyses.

Finally, since the founding works of A.V. Hill in the 1920s, the relationship between the biomechanical and physiological aspects of running at submaximal intensity was widely studied, with direct applications to performance. The very nature of the sprint activity (duration and intensity) does not allow a state of balance to be reached, which is why several authors rely on the cumulative oxygen deficit. By using "portable" tools to measure gas exchanges in the field, we were able to study sprint performance using a direct physiological approach, constituting another new contribution to research on sprinting.

Contract duration: 12/2022 to 12/2025