In contrast to the approach taken by Bezodis et al. , body height was used for normalisation instead of leg length, since leg length could not be obtained from all participants. To describe the force application on the starting blocks we determined average forces and impulses of the front and rear leg in antero–posterior, mediolateral, vertical and resultant directions. First reaction (i.e. the start of the push-off phase) was determined as the first instant when the resultant force curves rose from the baseline force in the set position. Block clearance was defined as the first instant when the resultant force of the front block dropped below a threshold of 50 N. To specify the efficiency of force application to the blocks, the ratio of horizontal (in the running direction) to resultant block reaction force impulse of both legs (RHRI, ) and the ratio of mediolateral to resultant block reaction force impulses (RMLRI) were calculated.