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Why So Fast?
By Conway Hill
| Monday, July 2 2007 10:00:28 PM |
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Compare this to Carl Lewis' WR effort in Tokyo in 1991. Lewis competed on a Mondo track (very hard rubberized surface) engineered to produce fast sprint times! Instead of simply trying to maintain traction, the newer surfaces provide instant traction - and they continue to get better. Cinders/dirt gave way to the first "rubber" tracks, the Chevron 440's of the 1980's. A tremendous change, but soft and mushy. These were improved upon by the Tartan surfaces of the late 80's - a harder form of rubber with an underlying soft cushion, forming a "faster" surface. By the development of the Tokyo track of the early 90's we had the first Mondo tracks - a hard surface laid over a hard underlay, able to take the force that is put into them and give some back to the athlete, providing more "bounce" along the surface and down the track. Now instead of the athlete fighting against the track, he/she is able to run in concert with it! And to go along with better tracks, the shoe manufacturers have developed shoes to compliment the tracks. Lighter shoes, stronger spike plates, optimal placement of the spikes along the plate, even better shaped spikes. All of these things have aided in the continued reduction of times.
Finally, we have the athlete as Team, and the fifth of my Five "T's". As outlined in many of the items above, the athlete is part of a comprehensive Team Concept today. The days of a single athlete, and a single coach working for an hour and a half to two hours a day has gone the way of amateurism. Today's professional athlete is surrounded by those whose job it is to ensure that he/she is in perfect health, physically fit, and at the optimal physical condition. Injuries are dealt with immediately using the latest diagnostic methods. Massage therapists, strength coaches and the head coach working together in harmony. All with the singular goal of ensuring that Athlete "A" is able to perform at his or her best.
We have come such a long way since the amateur days of Bob Hayes and Jim Hines. There have been so many improvements in all aspects of the sport. If those athletes could run 9.9 given their limited resources, why is it not conceivable that the athletes of 40 years later should not be running 9.7's? If Tommie Smith could run 19.83 why should today's athlete not run 19.32? After all EVERYTHING else has gotten better. Bob Hayes was televised in black and white. Today I watch Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay in High Definition on a plasma television. Bob Hayes made calls on a rotary telephone. I can send email from the stadium today on my "Smartphone" cell phone.
And if you really want to look at change, look at the WR's 40 years before Hayes! Charlie Paddock set the 100 WR in 1926 at 10.4h - converts to 10.64 with automatic timing. Forty years before Tommie Smith ran 19.83, Roland Locke ran 20.5h - converts to 20.74 with automatic timing. And 40 years before Lee Evan ran 43.86, Emerson Spencer ran 47.0 - converts to 47.12 with automatic timing. So it would seem that in spite of all of the advancements we've made in the last four decades, we are still BEHIND the improvements of our predecessors! Maybe, just maybe, the guys aren't running fast enough!
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Mr. Hill is based in the United States in Northern California and has been following the sport of Track and Field for 40 years. He can be reached at Chill@HellenicAthletes.com
updated July 3, 10:39 am EDT
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