The 2024 Paris Olympics closed out on August 11, 2024, with new world records set in a number of events by very strong and dedicated athletes. The Olympic Games have been a long-standing tradition in which nations from all around the world send athletes to represent them in competitions that showcase some of the most amazing feats in their respective sports. As the years have progressed, most of the events in the Summer Olympics have seen their world records beaten time and time again. However, world records for the fastest times in men’s and women’s sprinting and swimming events have begun to plateau, leading many to wonder if we are close to reaching the full extent of human potential.
Erin Garcia de Jesús wrote in Science News about the progression of the fastest times in both swimming and running events for men and women in the Olympics. The gold medal times for the men’s 100-meter dash have gone down by one second since the inception of this event in 1912. Donald Lippincott won the first gold medal in this event with a time of 10.6 seconds. Usain Bolt’s unbeaten world record from 2009 is 9.58 seconds. The gold medal times for the women’s 100-meter dash have gone down by roughly three seconds since the inauguration of this event in 1922. Marie Mejzlíková Ii won the first gold medal with a time of 13.6 seconds, and Florence Griffith-Joyner set a so-far undefeated record with a time of 10.49 seconds.
The gold medal times for both men’s and women’s 50-meter freestyle events have both fallen by roughly 3 seconds since the first records of their events were set. For men, Jonty Skinner won the gold medal with a time of 23.86 seconds in 1976, and the current record was set in 2009 with César Cielo bringing this time down to 20.91 seconds. In the women’s event, the first gold medalist was Kornelia Ender, who achieved a time of 26.99 seconds. Sarah Sjöström beat her own world record in 2023 by completing the race in 23.61 seconds. Writers of the Washington Post support the statement that the fastest times in running events have plateaued more compared to swimming events. “In the past decade, swimming world records have been broken 43% more often per event than in individual Olympic track races.”
Over the last several Olympics, there have been a number of improvements made to the structure of events as well as the suits and equipment used by the athletes. These improvements have aided in helping people perform better in their respective sports while reducing their risks of injury. Training methods have also been improved to help athletes build strength and hone their techniques to maximize power efficiency in their movement. Time will tell how effective these changes will be in producing the world’s best sprinter or swimmer, as it is unknown how low the records in sprinting and swimming events can get. Research published in the Journal of Physiology suggests that humans might be able to run as fast as 37 miles per hour, or 100 meters in 5.65 seconds. What is it going to take for us to see an astonishing run like this in a future Olympics? It is likely that we have not yet had the right person come along with the right technique to achieve this. A good sprint is done by driving your feet as hard as possible into the ground with every step taken, but how hard and in what way can one do that in order to reach such a speed? There is more room for improvement in the record of swimming, but the margin by which people beat the times of former competitors continues to shrink, leading many to believe that we are close to seeing a sprinter or swimmer move as fast as humanly possible.
