Sprints
Wind adjustment calculator
Enter a 100 m, 200 m or sprint hurdles time and the wind reading. You get an estimate of the time in still air, the same run at other winds, and whether the wind was legal for records.
How it is calculated
The calculator uses the formulas of Moinat, Fabius and Emanuel (2018). They fitted them on 150,169 results from elite and sub-elite meets. In each formula, t is your time in seconds, w is the wind in m/s (tailwind positive, headwind negative) and t₀ is the estimated time in still air.
On average, a +2.0 m/s tailwind is worth 0.125 s in the 100 m, 0.140 s in the 200 m and 0.146 s in the sprint hurdles. In the 100 m the effect also depends on the time: slower sprinters spend longer in the wind and gain more. The table of other winds runs the same formula backwards from the still-air time.
For the 100 m, the page also shows a second estimate from a physics model by Mureika (2001): t₀ = t × [1.027 − 0.027 × (1 − w·t/100)²] at sea level. The two models usually agree within a few hundredths.
Hurdles
The hurdles formula is fitted on hurdle races, and its answer is a hurdles time. It does not turn a hurdles time into a flat 100 m time.
Legal wind
For records, the tailwind must be +2.0 m/s or less. With a stronger tailwind the result is wind-assisted. It still counts as your place and time in the race, but it cannot be a record.
Worked example
A sprinter runs 10.50 in the 100 m with a +2.4 m/s tailwind. The formula gives 10.61 in still air, so the wind was worth about 0.11 s. The wind is over +2.0, so the time is wind-assisted. With a legal +2.0 m/s, the same run would be about 10.51.
Limits
- It is an average. Your height, build and start change how much wind you feel.
- The formulas come from sea-level meets. Altitude also makes sprints faster, and it is not included.
- Wind between −4.0 and +4.0 m/s only. The data has few races outside that range.
- The gauge measures the wind next to the straight for 10 seconds. Gusts, and wind on the bend in the 200 m, are not in the number.
Sources: M. Moinat, O. Fabius, K. S. Emanuel, “Data-driven quantification of the effect of wind on athletics performance”, European Journal of Sport Science 18(9), 1185–1190, 2018, doi:10.1080/17461391.2018.1480062. J. R. Mureika, “Back-of-the-envelope wind and altitude correction for 100 metre sprint times”, arXiv:physics/0006057.
Questions
How much does a +2.0 m/s wind help in the 100 m?
About 0.08 seconds for a 10.00 sprinter and about 0.14 seconds for a 13.00 sprinter, by the formula of Moinat, Fabius and Emanuel (2018). Slower sprinters spend longer in the wind, so they gain more.
What wind is legal for records?
A tailwind of +2.0 m/s or less. With a stronger tailwind the result is wind-assisted. It still counts in the competition, but it cannot be a record.
Does a headwind cost more than a tailwind helps?
Yes. In the 200 m, a −2.0 m/s headwind costs about 0.22 seconds, while a +2.0 m/s tailwind helps by about 0.14 seconds.
Can I turn a hurdles time into a flat 100 m time?
No. This calculator corrects a hurdles time for wind and gives a hurdles time back. Hurdle races and flat races are different events, and one time does not convert into the other.
Keep every race in one diary.
StrideBuddy is a training diary for track athletes. Log your races, and a faster race replaces your PB on its own. Hurdle races keep their own records, apart from flat races.