How fast can we go (100m content)

[HibsMax]

Let's all agree that man will never run 100m in, say, 5 seconds. At what point does someone set the World Record that will never be beaten? We can't keep shaving off 1/100s of a second, there has to be a wall somewhere..otherwise, eventually, we would get to 5 seconds.

[Matt92]

IMO 9.3seconds I reckon is the limit.

Usain Bolt is pretty much a perfect body for a sprinter and I feel had he run 100% in his peak, 9.5 could have been on.

I think he is the peak of human ability, and the only thing that will increase timings by that 0.2 will be incredible technology, materials, diets and i guess drugs!

[VickMackie]

Take the faster man in world with a 2 metre ph wind behind them for the full run and that'll be pretty close.

What was the fastest time 30 years ago?

We'll hit a wall somewhere but no doubt we'll learn more about the human body that will push it further and further.

I was reading that if we can modify the human body genetically then we could get much faster. Oh, and it may be impossible to trace.

[HibsMax]

I hope I'm not setting myself up for disappointment but I am really looking forward to the 100m this year. I think it's been my favourite event since 1980. :D

[sg7nil]

It depends on what you allow folk to do and still compete.

For example, while I have every sympathy for Oscar (the fastest man on no legs) Pistorious, I feel that to allow him with his spring loaded artifical running legs to compete against able bodied runners is a bit like having a swimmer with the same affliction and allowing them to fit large flippers onto their stumps (or maybe a propeller!) and then compete against other folk without that "advantage". Taken to extremes this opens up a huge can of worms and I believe that you could end up with the crazy situation whereby so much better times could be achieved by "disabled" athletes that it would make it impossible for "ordinary" folk to compete.

Where do you draw the line? I'm sure that Oscar's balance is such that he could easily learn to run on artificial limbs that are much longer than he currently has.. could we have a 100M stilt championship in the olympics in future?

[HibsMax]

It depends on what you allow folk to do and still compete.

For example, while I have every sympathy for Oscar (the fastest man on no legs) Pistorious, I feel that to allow him with his spring loaded artifical running legs to compete against able bodied runners is a bit like having a swimmer with the same affliction and allowing them to fit large flippers onto their stumps (or maybe a propeller!) and then compete against other folk without that "advantage". Taken to extremes this opens up a huge can of worms and I believe that you could end up with the crazy situation whereby so much better times could be achieved by "disabled" athletes that it would make it impossible for "ordinary" folk to compete.

Where do you draw the line? I'm sure that Oscar's balance is such that he could easily learn to run on artificial limbs that are much longer than he currently has.. could we have a 100M stilt championship in the olympics in future?

Not sure about stilts but I would watch women's hurdles if they had to wear 5" heels. :)

[Sergio sledge]

It depends on what you allow folk to do and still compete.

For example, while I have every sympathy for Oscar (the fastest man on no legs) Pistorious, I feel that to allow him with his spring loaded artifical running legs to compete against able bodied runners is a bit like having a swimmer with the same affliction and allowing them to fit large flippers onto their stumps (or maybe a propeller!) and then compete against other folk without that "advantage". Taken to extremes this opens up a huge can of worms and I believe that you could end up with the crazy situation whereby so much better times could be achieved by "disabled" athletes that it would make it impossible for "ordinary" folk to compete.

Where do you draw the line? I'm sure that Oscar's balance is such that he could easily learn to run on artificial limbs that are much longer than he currently has.. could we have a 100M stilt championship in the olympics in future?

Did they not do studies on the blade that he uses and find that he used more effort to run the same distance as an able bodied person does, and found that it gave him no advantage over other athletes? I'm sure that's why he's now allowed to compete when he wasn't for a while.

As to the OP, everyone keeps setting limits as to the speed that we can go at and they keep getting broken, with advancements in technology, training methods, physiological understanding and nutritional research, I don't see why we can't keep getting faster for a while yet. Me, I'm just trying to break the 20secs barrier....:greengrin

[HibsMax]

Did they not do studies on the blade that he uses and find that he used more effort to run the same distance as an able bodied person does, and found that it gave him no advantage over other athletes? I'm sure that's why he's now allowed to compete when he wasn't for a while.

As to the OP, everyone keeps setting limits as to the speed that we can go at and they keep getting broken, with advancements in technology, training methods, physiological understanding and nutritional research, I don't see why we can't keep getting faster for a while yet. Me, I'm just trying to break the 20secs barrier....:greengrin

I think it's an interesting problem. As I said, I think it's safe to say we won't hit 5s....so where is the limit? To think that someone will run it faster than anyone else ever can seems strangely unhuman to me.

[Mon Dieu4]

If Bolt hadn't started to celebrate before the end of some of his runs he could have shaved more off the record

I watched a documentary with Michael Johnson who still has the 400m record after 13 years, he now has his own sports company getting the best out of athletes, he took you through Bolts WR run and explained that Bolt actually doesn't run in the most effective way he could, he reckoned that he could get him to run closer to 9 seconds flat if he coached him

[HibsMax]

I know what you mean. He's do far ahead that he can afford to take his foot off the gas with 5 meters to go. Not sure how that translates into time but I bet it's a few 1/100s anyway.

[Purple & Green]

And in 100 years time the average height in the civilised world might be 6'6" and running 9 seconds dead might be the norm. Who knows eh? I suspect the record will always ever be improved just by ever increasing small margins be it hundredths, thousandths of a second. I suspect I'll see 9.25 seconds if I live for another 40 years.

[HibsMax]

Taller athletes? I didn't think about that. Interesting thought.

[Pete]

I remember Mike Parry on Talksport examining this very issue. His conclusion was that there was no limit to the amount of time that can be shaved off if there was no time limit to the study...therefore resulting in a man running the 100m in under one second one day in the future.

It sounds mad and was partly for a listener reaction but who's to say that in 10,000 years he won't be proved right?