Plantar Pressure Distribution And Gait Characters In Running For Chinese Top Athletes

Objectives: To describe and quantify the plantar pressure distribution characteristics in running for Chinese top elite runners and to explain how it contribute to form the athlete's ideal technique mode when compare with running for sublevel athletes and normal.Design: Description and case study design.Setting: Indoor sports ground.Participants: 14 Chinese nation top athletes major in mid-long distance running event and 9 untrained college students adopted as normal.Interventions: Not applicable.Main Outcome Measures: Pressure-time integral (PTI), peak pressure region specific (PP), ground reaction force (GRF), and displacement of center of pressure (COP).Results: For elite running, the loading of the heel(medial and lateral) is significantly lower than that of other regions (Cohen's d>o.7). In fore-foot the loading of 2rd metatarsal head is found significantly higher than other regions in top athletes. Compared with standard GRF line, the impact force (peak1) is lower and relatively the propulsion force (peak 2) is higher. The top athletes express the more obvious this trends. Compared with sublevel athletes, the locations of the COP in running for top athletes were significantly more anterior at both initial contact and the end of contact with the ground (Cohen's d>o.7). For the symmetry of the feet the displacements of the COP tends more lateral in the left foot and more medial in the right foot. Conclusions:The plantar pressure characteristics of elite distance running found in this study may be reflects the different techniques between levels athletes.