Dismantling Usain Bolt’s running techniques - Athletics news
Over the years, Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter, has emerged as one of the most formidable athletes who have always lived up to the expectations of his spectators. The 24-year-old runner, who believes in raising the bar of his performance every day, is
going to hit the London Olympics next year with a renewed vigour.
The way he has made it mandatory to hit every big event with a new record, it is expected of him to lower his world record and personal best further in the 100m and 200m contests that he specialises in.
Bolt, no doubt, has been a source of admiration for athletics lovers around the globe, but readers would be surprised to know that he has always been an inspiration for some physicians also, who conducted a thorough case study to dismantle and uncover the
secrets behind him lowering his PB to a staggering 0.14 seconds. The feat is something that has never been done since the inception of electrical clocks.
Digging it deeper about how Bolt manages to outdo his rivals almost every time, one encounters a stunning myth busting concept and that is, athletes do not run faster by moving their legs more quickly, rather, they manage to do it when they put in greater
force to push the earth behind with their legs, and again, sustain this greater force throughout the run.
Thus, when Bolt clocked his present world record at the 2009 World Championships, where he hit the finishing line in 9.58 seconds, he did not do that by moving his legs with greater pace. Rather, he did so by putting in greater strength to the race than
what his competitors were using. This fact was also supported by the theory forwarded by both academics and track coaches.
In order to discover the primary factors that help a runner run faster, Peter Weyand, a science professor at the Southern Methodist University, conducted a research. In this study, Weyand not only compared athletes with each other, but also athletes with
non-athletes. The findings simply left him surprised as it stated, “The amount of time to pick up a leg and put it down is very similar. It surprised us when we first figured it out.”
The results of the theory had raised an important question hinting towards the fact that if the leg turnover was the same, how could some person run faster than the others.
The answer to this question was the one that has already been presented in the above lines. It explained that the speed of athletes was based on two factors, the first one was about the amount of force by which an athlete pushes the ground with his legs,
and the second one was about how long one had the ability to apply this force.
For emerging over his rivals throughout his career, these were the two skills that Bolt has certainly mastered and relied upon.
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