The aim of this study was to compare explosive power and sprinting performance between rural and urban elementary school boys and girls in tamilnadu. The sample consisted of 3000 (1500 urban and 1500 rural; Age 10.3 ± 0.42 years) boys and 3000 (1500 urban and 1500 rural; Age 10.3 ± 0.43 years) girls with no medical history of disease. Volunteers were recruited randomly from selected schools in ten municipal corporations of Tamilnadu. Urban and rural schools were selected randomly. The explosive power measured through vertical jump test and sprinting performance through 40 meters sprint were conducted on both boys and girls of rural and urban area elementary school. Independent-samples t tests revealed that explosive power and sprinting performance (p < 0.05) was significantly higher in boys living in rural settings compared to their urban counterparts. In girls, explosive power and sprinting performance was found to be significantly better (p < 0.05) in the rural children than urban. It is concluded that the place of residence has clear impact on explosive power and sprinting performance in 12 year old school children in tamilnadu.
