ABSTRACT
The word ‘sprinting’ is used in modern sport to describe behaviour as different as a runner racing flat-out over the last 150 m of a 10 000 m race, a tennis player running flatout to return a drop-shot at the end of the fifth set of a tennis match, a schoolboy or girl running 100 m in the school sports, and a rugby forward running short bursts of 10-15 m as part of his or her training. Used in this way, the word ‘sprinting’ is a relative expression conveying the sense that someone is trying to run as fast as possible in the circumstances, even though the circumstances may not always be favourable to running at great speed, nor the performer particularly suited to the activity.
