Usain Bolt has the world record for the 100 meters at 9.58. He did not run his best race as he often would look around at the finish. If we combined his best 20 meter sections then Bolt could have run 9.52. This would take his best start, best finish etc…
There many records set at the Mexico Olympic in 1968. Higher altitude and warmer temperatures are better for sprinting records. If Usain Bolt had run at higher altitude, warmer temperature and with the most tailwind permitted for a record (2 meters per second), then this would have resulted in a 9.37 second record.
It could be possible to construct indoor facilities where the equivalent of high altitude, optimal temperature and optimal tailwind was always provided. Technological improvements for optimal running shoes and optimal track.
There have been other runs where there were fans used to give a 20 meter per second tailwind. If there was no tailwind limitation, then a sub-9 second 100 meters is possible.
Usain Bolt an a split of 8.70 seconds in a 150 meter run. A flying start enabled running 100 meters (50-150) in 8.70 seconds.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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Bolt was a once in a generation phenom. Too bad he was more interested in showboating than finishing his races strong – so we don’t know how many more 1/100s he could have shaved off the world record. It will be a long time before anyone breaks his 100 record.
Higher CO2 than 100 years ago does decrease human maximum performance
<> horsesh1t!
Combining 20 meter sections…
You do realize that, in a 100 meter race, you need to breathe, right? Sure, you’ll end the race with an oxygen debt, but you’re still limited by O2 intake.
A 20 meter section isn’t so limited, so you’re treating short sections where the racer is accumulating unsustainable oxygen debt as though they were sustainable long term, when the unusually fast 20 meter sections are directly linked to the slightly slower segments following them, leading to the average for the race. If those 20 meter sections could be run together, physiologically, somebody would have already done it.
If you want to speculate about what’s achievable under different rules, why not suggest enriching the air on the track with extra oxygen? That would almost certainly cut times significantly.
I recall being amazed that the 100m sprinters did not appear to be out of breath after the 100m this past Olympics – camera was all in their faces. I distinctly remember observing that. They were clearly panting after the 200m – so I’ll assert that breathing isn’t as important in the 10s race as it is in the 22s race. That 100m finish was so tight, it was basically a 5-way tie, barely won with a lean.
I for one do not believe the sub 9-second 100m is possible without performance enhancing substances. This is not something that humans can really work towards – half a second off Bolt’s record may as well be a 900lb bench press.