Study aim: To assess direct effects of warm-up consisting of static and dynamic stretching exercises on sprint results attained by students differing in sprint performance. Material and methods: A group of 24 male and 19 female physical education students, including 12 and 9 sprinters, respectively. They performed warm-ups consisting of dynamic stretching exercises and a week later--of static ones. Each warm-up was followed by 20-m sprint from a flying start. Results: Male subjects attained significantly (p less than 0.001) better results following the dynamic warm-up than following the static one irrespectively of their training status. No such difference was noted for female subjects. Conclusions: Male subjects ought to avoid static stretching exercises prior to speed-shaping tasks and use dynamic exercises instead. Further studies are needed in order to formulate recommendations for the female subjects. (Contains 3 tables.)