Curve Running and 200 Meters in Lane 8? No problem!

Last year, one of my athletes complained about his lane draw for the 200 meters as he drew Lane 8.

Complaining wasn’t the best way to describe his emotions. It was more of frustration, or perhaps, a little worried.

I promptly reminded him that Xavier Carter (better known as the X-man) ran 19.63 in Lane 8 beating Tyson Gay in Lausanne in 2006.

Last month, David J Pearsall PhD, from McGill wrote The Effect of Banked Curves on Running Mechanics.

Another good read is A Survey on the Effect of Lane Assignment in Sprinting the Curve Portion of a 400-Meter Track.

Remember, Michael Johnson won the 1992 USA Olympic Trials in Lane 8 for the same distance. Unfortunately, he only advanced to the semi-finals at the Olympics and did not place top 4 to advance to the finals. (NOTE TO SELF: Avoid food in questionable restaurants the night before the big race)

Here is the Xavier Carter 19.63 200 meters video, including slow motion. This was the pre-Osaka 2007 Tyson Gay.