If lane assignments do matter, their impact would be most noticeable for events where the runners have to stay in their lanes for all of, or at least a large part of, the race, like 100-meter, 200 ...

Using 20 years of track and field data from the International Association of Athletics Federations, I found that the long-held beliefs about lane advantages are not supported by the data.

Running lanes of a refurbished track at Los Angeles City College are each painted a colour of the rainbow pride flag to advocate for the equality and inclusivity of LGBT+ athletes.

(THE CONVERSATION) As a short-distance track and field runner in high school and college, I often found myself wondering which of the eight or sometimes nine lanes on the track was the fastest. It ...

The inside lane is oftentimes best in track and field not because the lanes are the fastest, but because the fastest athletes are placed in those lanes after qualifying rounds.

In short, the middle lanes are widely thought to be the best spots for any staggered-start track event—and it does seem like those lanes produce the most winners. But it’s not quite that simple.

Using 20 years of track and field data from the International Association of Athletics Federations, I found that the long-held beliefs about lane advantages are not supported by the data.

There's a long-held belief that the middle lane produces the fastest running times in track races. But that may not be true for every event.