Are there lane advantages in athletics, swimming and track cycling?
- Published
Earlier in the week South African Wayde van Niekerk took the world by storm.
He won the 400m in 43.03 seconds, beating the 17-year-old world record of 43.18.
And he did it in the outside lane, the first man to win an Olympic 400m gold from lane eight.
While mathematical calculations, and a staggered start, ensure that athletes don't run different distances, some say there are still advantages to being in the middle lanes.
You have to set your own pace
Racing in lane eight means starting "ahead" of the other competitors to allow for the extra distance on the bend.
Michael Baker, a 400m coach at Loughborough University, explains why this matters.
"Because the 400m isn't just a straight sprint the whole way around, it can be useful to measure your pace against the other athletes.
"Those in lane eight are 'running blind' and cannot see their competitors.
"It's a personal preference though. Some athletes have enough confidence in their ability that they don't feel they need this."
Those who progressed from the heats are placed in lanes based on their qualifying speeds, with the fastest in the middle.
Michael also explains that lane eight may actually have a bit of an advantage in some athletes' eyes.
"Lane one has a tighter bend which means that athletes on the outside of the track can carry their speed better.
"The difference isn't huge but that is why you don't see people winning medals from lane one."
The disadvantages are minimal in swimming
Like in athletics, the fastest swimmers in a final compete in the middle lanes, usually creating an arrowhead formation during the race.
This used to cause a problem with waves for those on the outside.
Coach of Olympic swimmers Ben Proud and Ruta Meilutyte, Jon Rudd, tells us how things have changed.
"Technological research has made a difference in recent years," he says.
"We now swim in a 10-lane pool but the two outside lanes are left empty and actually the main disadvantage about being in the outside lane was always that the waves would bounce off the edge - that's not the case any more.
"Also the ropes which break up the lanes have changed. There are now anti-wave discs which absorb a lot of the movement.
"And finally we now use a three-metre deep pool, as research has proven that there is less disturbance in the water than in the old two-metre pools."
And in cycling it's entirely a personal preference
It's hard to get to the bottom of "lane" preference in the sprint in track cycling - it seems that it just depends.
"First-wheel" is the cyclist on the inside who takes the front position at the start, and the "second-wheel" is the one behind.
Bob Barber, velodrome cycling coach from Manchester, says "second-wheel has a better view of the opponent and first-wheel spends most of the race facing backwards".
"Whether you prefer to race in the front or back position depends on how fast your opponent is and how good your track craft is."
So basically, second-wheel generally has tactical advantage whereas if you're the fastest and already in front then to lose you have to be outsmarted.
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