Influence of running wide on the bend on performance in 1500m finals at major championships

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of running wide on bends on performance during major championship 1500m events. Official final race 100-m split times of 1500m finalists from two World Championships (2013 and 2017) and the 2016 Olympic Games were obtained from the open-access World Athletics website. Extra distance covered on the bends was calculated using official videos from the championships and the total distance run was described as the minimum calculable distance. Based on this measure, theoretical mean speeds, theoretical finishing times and theoretical finishing positions were calculated. Theoretical finishing times were faster than official finishing times (P < 0.001). Men and women covered a mean extra distance on the bends of 0.31 ± 0.09 and 0.38 m ± 0.17 m, respectively. Finishing positions were also influenced by extra distance covered. These findings suggest reducing extra distance run whenever possible to achieve a better finishing position during major championship races.