Eli5: From the early 20th century until now the 100m sprint world record has improved for over a second. Is it only better training, or have the doping methods developed to the point of being undetectable?
In: Biology
It’s mostly technology. Shoes, track surfaces, nutrition, training methods, medicine, aerodynamics and lightweight clothing.
Some other reasons that have multiple levels:
Travel: it used to be that only certain people could even make it to a race, now almost all high level athletes can fly around the world.
Number of lanes on a track: there used to only be 5 or 6 lanes, meaning more qualifying heats were run and athletes had to pace themselves or were more tired by the finals.
Reduction in poverty: if your family has no money, or even no food, it’s unlikely you rise to the level of an elite sprinter even if you were genetically destined for it.
There were many factors. Technological advancements were crucial, from track materials and shoe quality to the machines used in training. Improved nutritional knowledge and training planning also play a role. While doping is undeniable in elite sports, it’s not the only relevant factor.
Another significant point is that at the beginning of the 20th century, the world population was nearly five times smaller than it is today
I’ve seen many good explanations for this. Mostly, it comes down to better technology and people with longer legs. In the very first Olympics, runners were running on leather soled shoes on rough concrete or gravel, and the average height of a runner was the “above average” height of the time.
With the passage of time, shoes became rubber, the track became a rubber mesh, runners now start on runner blocks, and every decade the average height of the contestant’s increases.
Adjusting for these differences, it is estimated that the true change in time for the 100M dash is incredibly small. I can’t remember the exact estimated change, but it was something like 1-2% over 100 years. Like… if you took athletes from the 1930’s, increased their leg length a bit, and trained them with modern gear for a couple weeks, they would be just as fast as our current top runners.
Based on quick googling the improvement of the record was only about 0,3 s (10,2->9,9) during when modern doping became available. Considering that other improvements mentioned in this tread happened during that time too the doping “only” seems to give like 0,2-0,3 s advantage on these records.
[removed]
Latest Answers