Related papers: A realistic quasi-physical model of the 100 metre …
Many university texts on Mechanics deal with the problem of the effect of the air drag force, using as example the slowing down of a parachute. Hardly no one discuss what happens when the drag force is proportional to both $u$ and $u^2$. In…
A quick and fun investigation into the effects of correcting for wind assistance/resistance and drag on 100m sprint performances. Considered are World 100m rankings, as well as Canadian rankings
It is well known that ``equivalent'' sprint race times run with different accompanying wind speeds or at different altitudes are anything but equivalent races. The drag force acting on a sprinter is a function of air density and the…
A simple algebraic expression is presented to correct men's and women's 100 metre sprint times for ambient wind and altitude effects. The simplified formula is derived from a more complicated equation of motion used to model the athlete's…
In the wake of numerous injuries and Donovan Bailey's media-stamped "sub-par" 100m victory of 10.03s at the 1997 Canadian Track and Field Championships, a medal hope at the 1997 World Championships seems grim for the Olympic Champion and…
A numerical model of 100 m and 200 m world class sprinting performances is modified using standard hydrodynamic principles to include effects of air temperature, pressure, and humidity levels on aerodynamic drag. The magnitude of the…
We employ the novel theory of heterogeneous extreme value statistics to accurately estimate the ultimate world records for the 100-m running race, for men and for women. For this aim we collected data from 1991 through 2023 from thousands…
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Usain Bolt broke the world record for the 100 m sprint. Just one year later, at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin he broke it again. A few months after Beijing, Eriksen et al.…
The aim of this paper is to bring a mathematical justification to the optimal way of organizing one's effort when running. It is well known from physiologists that all running exercises of duration less than 3mn are run with a strong…
World records in athletics provide a measure of physical as well as physiological human performance. Here we analyse running records and show that the mean speed as a function of race time can be described by two scaling laws that have a…
Since that very memorable day at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, a big question on every sports commentator's mind has been "What would the 100 meter dash world record have been, had Usain Bolt not celebrated at the end of his race?" Glen Mills,…
In a previous article (physics/9705004), the best 100m performances in track and field were determined by accounting for wind effects and atmospheric drag. In this report, I seek to ascertain what was the "fastest" 100m final through a…
Based on a mathematical simulation which reproduces accurate split and velocity profiles for the 100 and 200 metre sprints, the magnitudes of altitude and mixed wind/altitude-assisted performances as compared to their sea-level equivalents…
We present a new way of estimation of the role of chance in achieving success, by comparing the empirical data from 100-meter dash competitions (one of the sports disciplines with the most stringent controls of external randomness), with…
The mathematical model of J. Keller for predicting World Record race times, based on a simple differential equation of motion, predicted quite well the records of the day. One of its shortcoming is that it neglects to account for a…
The 100m world rankings of the 1997 outdoor track and field competition season are reviewed, subject to corrections for wind effects and atmospheric drag. The rankings and times are compared with those of 1996, and the improvements of each…
Track and field world records have risen and fallen throughout the history of the sport. A recent rash of record-breaking performances has prompted the question: "How good can we get?". This article offers a review of several attempts to…
In order to describe the velocity and the anaerobic energy of two runners competing against each other for middle-distance races, we present a mathematical model relying on an optimal control problem for a system of ordinary differential…
In this paper, we explore the space of running gaits for the bipedal robot Cassie. Our first contribution is to present an approach for optimizing gait efficiency across a spectrum of speeds with the aim of enabling extremely high-speed…
The athletic achievements of African athletes in global running championships have long been subject to scientific and sociological inquiry. During the 1990s, a popular narrative emerged, suggesting that West African lineage conferred…