The sprints seem to be constrained by tendon strength and if there's a hard limit on how much force the human tendons can absorb, then we've reached the limit of human performance.
Longer distances are less constrained by the limits tendon strength and muscle power.
Pole vault? Contemplate for a second that even after the speed, strength and athleticism to launch themselves 6 meters into the air, they then have to fall that distance back to the ground. I know they are landing on pads, but just falling backwards from that height would be too terrifying for most people.
I would say the sprints (most of those that have historical marks were doping) and they are so short there is less time for variance.
Then I would say distance because it is the most widely participated in. Huge number of bodies competing but the events are so long one innovation in training or equipment that makes a slight change has a big impact.
Field events are probably the farthest from the human limit. So few people compete in them, I don’t think we have found all of the freak population and gotten them into a field event.
We’re already past the natural human limits. The world records we’ve seen the last 30 years are a combination of human limits plus PEDS plus shoe technology.
All of the men's sprints are pretty much at their limit, 100 to 800. Hurdles haven't been capped yet because hurdling technique can still get better and the caliber of runners doing the hurdles can always get better (Grant Holloway actually isn't that fast on the flat but has perfect hurdling technique. Imagine combining his hurdling with Noah Lyles' top speed or Christian Coleman's start?). The Norwegian double interval method has quite literally unlocked new levels of performance from 1,500 to 5,000. It's enabled runners of pretty much every background to perform at an elite level in these events, and the great competition is going to keep driving down times. Can you imagine when some Kenyan or Ethiopian talents start implementing this training from a young age (I get that a lot of the Kenyan training is already doubles or triples that limit the intensity, but it is a lot more loosely regimented)? The longer events can all get faster as well as the speed is already there to run faster, but I don't think the limits of running economy, oxygen uptake, and fatigue resistance have been reached, and super shoes and nutritional factors (some legal, some not) can help greatly here.
We’re already past the natural human limits. The world records we’ve seen the last 30 years are a combination of human limits plus PEDS plus shoe technology.
I truly believe Bolt was clean. That guy was just built different. No one that tall ever had that kind of rapid leg turnover.
It's interesting comparing men's and women's world records. The men are only 11% faster at the 200m, but go 23% higher in the pole vault (the biggest difference I noticed). I guess the throws would have a larger difference than that if everyone used the same implement.
It's interesting comparing men's and women's world records. The men are only 11% faster at the 200m, but go 23% higher in the pole vault (the biggest difference I noticed). I guess the throws would have a larger difference than that if everyone used the same implement.
Duplantis really upped that percentage in the pole vault only recently. He's also an absolutely generational talent there. I also think the women's record in the pole vault is quite weak and will definitely be broken in the upcoming years. I also think the "strength" events kind of increase by more exponential factors rather than on a linear scale like running might. Interestingly, the women's record is only 9.5% worse in the 100 meters and 9.4% worse in the marathon, so that gap holds more or less steady through all running events.