Indoor Track & Field: The Basics
Writing this blog in honour of the World Athletics Indoor Championships happening this weekend! I love world indoors! My all-time best ever race performance was at the World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland, where I won a bronze medal in the 1500m for Canada, setting the national record at the time.
First up, if you’re interested in following the meet, scroll down for details at the bottom.
INDOOR TRACK 101
The standard size of an indoor track is 200meters, however there are many different sizes that exist (mostly between 200m & 400m but some are smaller).
Every major track championships is held on a 200meter banked track. A banked track is raised on the curves as opposed to a flat track.
In the diagram below (which is not to scale!) You can see that the 60m dash is set up in the middle of the track. On banked tracks there isn’t enough flat distance to run the dash in the homestretch of the track.
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Waterfall Starts
In the diagram I drew in a double waterfall for both the 1500m and the 1mile (although the 1mile is not run at major track championships). Athletes will line up the full width of the track on the inside waterfall, and then a second, smaller row of athletes will line up in the outer 3-4 lanes.
Cutting In
Cutting in means moving into lane 1. In the outdoor 400m, athletes stay in their own lane for the whole race, For the indoor 400m, athletes cut in in the homestretch as they go into the second and final lap of the race. The spot to cut in is clearly marked for the athletes with cones set up on the track (shown as yellow dots on the image).
In the 1500m or the mile, the athletes in the inner waterfall can cut in immediately. The athletes in the second waterfall can cut in to the yellow line separating the inner lanes from the outer lanes (this is often marks with cones on the track in real life, but I’ve drawn it as a yellow line on the image). Once the athletes enter the homestretch they can cut in to lane 1, joining the athletes who were in the inner waterfall. Same cit in situation applies for the 3000m.
The 800m will cut in either according to the same rules as the indoor 400m or 1500/mile depending on whether the athletes are lined up in lanes or in double waterfall (can be done either way).
**Please note, even though my drawing shows 8 lanes, many indoor tracks have fewer lanes. 6 lanes is more common.
Disqualifications
Indoor track is notorious for disqualifications related to cutting in and stepping inside the rail. Getting and maintaining good positioning is a lot more challenging on the 200m indoor track than it is on a 400m outdoor track. Athletes who cut in too soon, or step inside the rail while jostling for position (either intentionally OR accidentally) get disqualified. It’s pretty cutthroat. I won the bronze in 2014 after being upgraded from 4th place due to a disqualification in my race.
Events that do NOT exist indoors
Because the track is smaller in dimensions, some events just don’t work for indoor track.
100meter dash (replaced with 60m dash)
100m & 110m hurdles (replaced with 60m hurdles)
400m hurdles
3000m steeplechase
5000m (replaced with 3000m)
10000m
Discus throw
Javelin throw
Heptathlon (replaced with Pentathlon) women’s event
Decathlon (replaced with Heptathlon) men’s event
HOW TO BE A TRACK FAN
Check out the schedule of events & explore the meet website.
I recommend Citius Mag - either the website or any social media channels to follow the action throughout the weekend. They do a good job of covering the top athletes across events, but keep in mind that it’s a US based company so will prioritize featuring the American athletes.
TV coverage will vary depending on where in the world you live.
Nicole Sifuentes is a full-time Running Coach for adults of all ages and abilities. She is a former professional runner and 2-time Olympian, and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Read more about her services, and schedule your free coaching consultation.