Physiologists at the University of Montreal have been looking at the limits of human potential. In conclusion they say there will never be a three-minute mile, a sub-nine-second 100 metre sprint or a marathon run in under two hours.
Dr Robert Schultz, a statistician at the University of British Columbia, has made predictions based on past performances in seven track and field events and projected them into the future.
He calculates that by the year 2050, the marathon will be run in 2 hours 2 minutes 39 seconds, just 3 minutes faster than the current best time of 2:5.42. He also predict s that the 100 metres will not be run in under 9.51 seconds, just under three-tenths of a second faster than the current world record.
Then again, was it not scientists who originally said that women could not run any distance over 400 metres?
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