Sex differences in human running performance: smaller gaps at shorter distances?

Human, but not canine or equine running performance, is significantly stratified by sex. The degree of stratification has obvious implications for classification and regulation in athletics. However, whether the widely cited sex difference of 10%-12% applies equally to sprint and endurance running events is unknown. Here, different determining factors for sprint (ground force/body mass) versus endurance performance (energy supply and demand) and existing trends, led us to hypothesize that sex perform-ance differences for sprint running would increase with distance and be relatively small. We quantified sex performance differen-ces using: 1) the race times of the world's fastest males and females (n = 40 each) over a 15-year period (2003-2018) at nine standard racing distances (60-10,000 m), and 2) the 10-m segment times of male (n = 14) and female (n = 12) athletes in World Championship 100-m finals. Between-sex performance time differences increased with sprint event distance (60 m-8.6%, 100 m-9.6%, 200 m-11.0%, 400 m-11.7%) and were smaller than the relatively constant mean (12.4 +/- 0.3%) observed across the five longer events from 800 to 10,000 m. Between-sex time differences for the 10-m segments within the 100-m dash event increased throughout spanning 5.6%-14.2% from the first to last segment. We conclude that sex differences in sprint running performance increase with race and running distance.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Sex performance differences for sprint running bursts are small (<6%), but widen as the distance sprinted increases (range: 5.6%-14.2%). The distance dependency identified here for sprinting differs from the prevailing litera-ture view of between-sex performance differences for the human running of 10%-12% regardless of distance. The variable sprint margins observed reflect the relative performance benefits shorter females have for brief, acceleration-dependent efforts versus those taller males have for longer steadier-speed sprint efforts.

Automated summary

Human running performance is stratified by sex, with larger differences observed in longer distance events. In sprint running, the differences between male and female performance increase with distance, while in longer endurance events, the differences remain relatively constant.