Get ready, set, go! The start of the 100 m final is one of the most anticipated moments of any major athletics championship. The importance of an athlete’s start performance (SP) is inversely related to the length of the track event. It is therefore very important in the 100 m, less so in the 200 m and potentially most significant in 60 m indoor events. Despite the fact that, for a typical 100-m race, the start (including reaction time) only takes up about 5% of the total duration , around one third of the athlete’s maximal velocity is generated during push-off from the blocks . As a result, average centre-of-mass (CoM) acceleration is highest during this phase of the race.