The impact of running with and without a guide on short distance running performance for athletes with a vision impairment

Objective This study aimed to investigate the difference of running with or without a guide on running performance (100 m, 200 m and 400 m) for athletes with a vision impairment (VI). Design Data including athletes’ and guides’ sex, age and race times were extracted from 11 elite competitions. Results Male athletes predominantly ran without a guide (100 m = 91.4%, 200 m = 88.1%, 400 m = 84.8%), whereas, female athletes mainly ran with a guide (100 m = 60.5%, 200 m = 80.0%, 400 m = 72.0%). No significant difference in 100 m race times was found between male athletes with or without a guide (p = 0.647). For the 200 m (p = 0.001) and 400 m (p = 0.030), race times were significantly slower for male athletes running with a guide (mean rank 200 m = 36.80, 400 m = 33.57) compared to without a guide (mean rank 200 m = 19.43, 400 m = 21.69). Conversely, 100 m (p = 0.015), 200 m (p = 0.025) and 400 m (p = 0.029) race times were significantly faster for female athletes with (mean rank 100 m = 18.25, 200 m = 13.71, 400 m = 11.00) compared to without a guide (mean rank 100 m = 27.74, 200 m = 22.67, 400 m = 21.69). Conclusions Running with a guide affects VI athletes’ race times. The influence of running with a guide, and the gender mix of VI athlete and guide, should be considered in any research with the aim of establishing a new classification system for VI athletes.