When assessing season-to-season progress, what do sprint norms primarily help you interpret?

• A. Absolute improvement ignoring peers.
• B. Relative change within peer distribution.
• C. Weather patterns during testing.
• D. The athlete's personal best only.

Answer: (B)

Sprint norms are a norm-referenced way to view performance by placing an athlete’s times within the distribution of peers. This lets you see how season-to-season progress compares to others, not just how much you personally improve. If your time improves a bit but the group improves even more, your position in the peer distribution might stay the same or shift downward; if you improve more than most peers, your relative standing rises. Weather and personal bests don’t provide that context, whereas sprint norms show whether your progress is typical, faster than peers, or slower, based on how your results move within the peer distribution.