# High-Speed Running and Sprinting Thresholds in Elite Female Team Sports: A Systematic Review
## 4 Discussion  
This systematic review provides an overview of the research on high-speed running and sprinting in elite female athletes in team sports. The aims of this systematic review were (1) to summarize and describe the evidence on absolute speed thresholds used to classify high-speed running (HSR) and sprinting in female team sports and (2) to compare HSR and sprinting thresholds between female team sports. The main findings were that (1) non-standard thresholds are used to monitor HSR and sprinting demands among professional female sports and that (2) HSR and sprint distances are sport dependent and highly variable  
Figure 4: Lower velocity, high-speed running, and sprint thresholds for female players in soccer, expressed in km-h\({}^{-1}\)[20; 21; 22; 23; 33; 34; 36; 37; 39; 46; 48; 49; 51; 55; 64; 66; 69; 70; 73; 74; 78; 79; 80; 93; 95; 96; 98; 100]. Figure 5: Lower velocity, high-speed running, and sprint thresholds for female players in handball, Gaelic football, lacrose, rugby league, rugby seven, and rugby union, expressed in km-h\({}^{-1}\)[24; 25; 26; 30; 31; 35; 38; 41; 42; 43; 47; 50; 56; 57; 65; 68; 72; 77; 84; 86; 87; 92; 99; 101]. across sports. This variability is expected, given the difference in the playing field sizes, player density, and technical and tactical characteristics of each sport [5]. The definition of HSR threshold was highly variable, ranging from a low 11.1 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\), to a high 21.6 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\) (Table 3). We found even greater variability between sports in terms of sprint thresholds, ranging from 15.0 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\) to 30.0 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\) (Figures 3-5). This highlights considerable heterogeneity in the velocity criteria used to assess the same external load metric, limiting comparability across studies and complicating practical application. Moreover, different sprint thresholds were identified depending on the field size. Authors tend to set a higher threshold for sprinting in sports with larger pitch sizes (e.g., soccer, hockey, or rugby), as previously reported in other studies [5]. Nevertheless, the sprint threshold appears to be more consistent in the literature on female team sports, with 44.1% of the studies setting it at 20.0 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\). In indoor sports like handball, five studies were found on female handball matches using the same threshold for HSR (18.0 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\)) [41; 42; 43; 44; 45]. This agreement contrasts with the greater variability observed in outdoor sports and suggests a potential link between the playing area size and velocity thresholds. In male handball players, the thresholds differed; some authors set 19.8 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\)[103; 104; 105], while others set 21.0 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\)[106; 107] for HSR. However, for the sprint threshold, there is less variability, with most studies setting it at \(>\)24.0 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\) or \(>\)25.2 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\)[103; 104; 105; 106; 107]. Significantly fewer studies have been reported on high-speed running in female basketball matches, although three studies reported a similar HSR (\(\approx\)14.0 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\)) [75; 76; 7]. In contrast, male basketball studies commonly set HSR at 18 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\) and sprinting at \(>\)24.0 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\)[108; 109; 110; 111; 112; 113; 114]. Additionally, we found differences between handball and basketball female HSR thresholds (18.0 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\) vs. 14.0 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\), respectively), which could be explained by the differences in the field size between the sports [5]. In handball and basketball, the HSR threshold for females is set lower than in men. This could be justified from a physiological standpoint, as evidence suggests differences in the absolute running performance between men and women [115; 116]. In field hockey, the majority of studies (9 out of 16) set the threshold for HSR at 16.0 km\(\cdot\)h\({}^{-1}\). However, there is no consensus on the sprint threshold, with significant variability across studies (see Figure 3).