While I was reading Gary Dickson”s recent commentary on athletic records I was reminded of those academics in the late 19th century who felt that no new discoveries would be made because everything was known. It is impossible to state the rate at which human athletic performance will continue. However, one can state confidently that it will always improve. There are four reasons.
The human body continues to get bigger and faster. This is due to better nutrition, better pre-natal care and a better understanding of human physiology. The Japanese, for example, found that the average height increased one inch every 10 years after the war because of better nutrition. Allied with this growth is better selection of humans for specific athletic events. Through muscle biopsies, it is possible to predict how people will perform in specific events. Furthermore, those people who participate in various athletic events does not represent everyone. There are doubtless great numbers of people who might be champions, who for one reason or another, never participate in that event or athletics generally. Who would have thought twenty years ago, for example, that Eastern Europeans would have the skills to participate in the NBA? This pool of untapped talent will continue to expand.
Another reason that athletic performance will continue to improve is the development of new equipment. Can you imagine sprinters running today without starting blocks? What about foam landing areas? At one time, high jumpers and pole vaulters landed on sawdust. It would be impossible to have the techniques that are current without foam landing areas. Also, consider the development of the fiberglass pole vaulting pole. Without this pole, people would still be vaulting around 16 feet, the last world record height set by the “Vaulting Vicar,” Bob Richards. It is interesting to note that the development of the fiberglass pole also changed the physiques of the vaulters. Instead of muscle men, modern vaulters looks like acrobats or gymnasts.
There have also been changes in techniques. High jumpers used the Western and Eastern Roll at one time. This limited the height that jumpers could clear to the distance the jumper”s center of gravity could be raised, since it had to go over the bar. With the development of the Fosbury Flop, the jumper”s center of gravity went under the pole! This allowed jumpers to go much higher ? over seven feet. In another field event, the shotput, the O”Brien Glide gave way to the Oldfield Spin, allowing rotatary energy to be harnessed. In weight lifting, the squat clean was developed, which was much more efficient than the split-clean.
Lastly, there have been changes in training methods. Interval training, for instance, was adapted from cardiac rehabilitation. This method allowed the runner to develop greater stroke volume with each heart beat than with other training methods. Another training improvement was weight training which is used today by all athletes. Twenty years ago, this was not the case.
What has been mentioned in this letter are just a few of the reasons why athletic records will continue to improve. As one can see, there are simply too many variables to put a limit on the quantity or quality of future athletic records.
Charles Moton
Lucerne
