How quickly an athlete can run

June 10, 2025

Sunday, October 17, 2021

| Updated 10/18/2021 08: 35h.

He left quickly and reached an impossible cruising speed for the rest. I just looked out without tension. Knowing powerful steps that those who had in the neighborhood were unable to approach that acceleration of a being from another world. 9.58 seconds to travel a hundred meters. 37.6 kilometers per hour on average, 45 km/h at the highest speed. Usain Bolt pulverized a world record as prestigious as that of the hectometer in Berlin in 2009 that changed the history of speed and that no one approached in more than a decade. Not happy with that, the stopwatch also sprayed on the 200 meters, which stopped it in 19.19 (0.11 less than the previous one), the largest margin that exceeded a record of the world championships. The Jamaican not only became forever, he also left the thought in everyone where the boundaries of man will be established if one is delivered to the maximum from the output truck to the finish line. «If I was free from an injury, I would have achieved it. There was room for my improvement, “he complains in the Netflix documentary” I am Bolt. “

Science has always been with great interest in the case and there have been various studies that predict new peaks. Researchers from the University of Tilburg (Holland) calculated the speed Queen Speed Barrier with the theory of extreme values. The result, 9.51 seconds. Figure that reduces in Stanford (California), which determines the stop at 9.48 via a complex mathematical model. After the Bolt van Bolt there are still people who decrease time.

Professor of Sporttechniek Steve Haake published an investigation into the earlier performance of runners in the 100 meters. He analyzed the information and extrapolated it to the future to calculate the maximum limit of human speed. The results estimate that the speed of 9.41 would be achieved in the coming decades. “There are mythical barriers that seemed insurmountable and eventually demolished those historical walls,” says Carlos Alberto Cordante, Doctor of Physical and Sports Activity Sciences. The expert mentions the case of 10 seconds in 100 meters or 46 seconds in the fences of 400 meters. Others, such as the two hours in the marathon or 19 seconds of the two hectometers, are still attacked by an ‘alien’. «When Carl Lewis ran at 9.86, we seemed an almost unbeatable record and now he is not even one of the fastest 20s in history. As aspects such as food, physical preparation, social aspects or sports material improve, there is a feeling that today’s physiological limit will not be that of tomorrow, “he says.

“In just 3 years (2007-2009), the world record of 100 m Man 19 hundredths progressed, almost the same as in the previous 40 years (9.98 Jim Hines in 1968),” he recalls.

Physical and genetic virtues

An important problem for experts is “Don’t spoil the athlete from the moment it starts in sport”, that is, “fundamentally you have to feed the white fibers of fast and explosive work.” During his stage as a professional usain -bolt, for example, had 80% white fiber or fast contraction. A frequent type of muscle system in black sprinters and producing a lot of energy without resorting to oxygen. «Muscle fibers fulfill different functions. You do not demand the same for your muscles when you run a speed race than when you make half a background, “says Cdenente.

The gear phase, the maximum speed (keeping it longer) can mainly be improved (keeping longer) and the small speed trap in the last meters are better passed, which improves technology and strength (especially reactive). The last steps of the bolt were 3 m long and their contact times were fewer than 100 milliseconds of the tenth support. It was an almost perfect career, but a large part of those records can increase, ”says José Luis López, professor of Athletics of the Inefc of Barcelona and the voice of the Diamond League in Movistar+.

Experts agree that people will experience his physiological stops in the following decade (heart capacity, brain, muscles, ligaments …) and/or biomechanics with the evolution of technology (the ability to take greater steps with shorter support, more speed). “The mental and atmospheric key also seems fundamentally for those who want to relegate Bolt, although the irruption of someone is not expected in the short term,” says Cdenente.