Detection of ground contact times with inertial sensors in elite 100-m sprints under competitive field conditions

This study describes a method for extracting the stride parameter ground contact time (GCT) from inertial sensor signals in sprinting. Five elite athletes were equipped with inertial measurement units (IMU) on their ankles and performed 34 maximum 50 and 100-m sprints. The GCT of each step was estimated based on features of the recorded IMU signals. Additionally, a photo-electric measurement system covered a 50-m corridor of the track to generate ground truth data. This corridor was placed interchangeably at the first and the last 50-ms of the track. In total, 863 of 889 steps (97.08%) were detected correctly. On average, ground truth data were underestimated by 3.55 ms. The root mean square error of GCT was 7.97 ms. Error analyses showed that GCT at the beginning and the end of the sprint was classified with smaller errors. For single runs the visualization of step-by-step GCT was demonstrated as a new diagnostic instrument for sprint running. The results show the high potential of IMUs to provide the temporal parameter GCT for elite-level athletes.