What are the absolute limits to human performance levels?
....That's the question posed by former international distance runner
Bruce Tulloh, now a leading coach, in the latest Special Issue of Peak
Performance. This Special deals with Future Trends in sport and looks
at record progression, the battle of the sexes, the 2012 Olympics and
the impact of China's emergence onto the world sporting stage.
First, the onward march of world records. How far - and how fast -
can the human frame go? Tulloh points out that each generation tends to
think in its own terms: a chunk off a record is regarded as the
ultimate performance whereas the real effect of the new record is to
recalibrate the sights of the next would-be record-holders: 'Simply
put, each generation of young athletes looks at the current records and
works harder and harder to reach them. Human nature being what it is,
people train just hard enough and long enough to achieve the goal -
but no more.'
Event 2005 Actual 2025 Predicted
100m 9.77 9.69
200m 19.32 19.20
400m 43.32 42.54
800m 1:41.11 1:39.40
1,500m 3:26.00 3:23
5,000m 12:37.35 12:22
1,0000m 26:17.5 25:44
Marathon 2:04:55 1:59:50
http://debunkbigpharma.blognation.us/blog/_archives/2005/10/31/1332936.html