How fast can a human possibly run 100 meters?
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In 2008, Usain Bolt won Olympic gold, setting the 100 meter world record.
In the 2008 Olympics. Usain Bolt not only won Olympic gold, he outclassed all of his rivals and became the first human to break through the 9.70 second barrier.
Credit: PhotoBobil & SillyFolkBoy/Wikimedia Commons
His 9.69 second finish was bettered in 2009: running 9.58 seconds.
With an automatic time of 9.572 seconds (adjusted for a wind assistance of 0.9 m/s to 9.58 seconds), Usain Bolt’s performance in the 2009 World Championships remains the fastest a human has ever run a 100 meter race.
Credit: IAAF World Championships, 2009
No other runner, before or since, has broken the 9.60 second barrier.
Although runners Tyson Gay, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, and Justin Gatlin have all run 100 meter times between 9.69 and 9.75 seconds, only Usain Bolt has broken the 9.6 second barrier.
Credit: English Language Wikipedia
But with the ideal human:
anatomy,
start,
acceleration,
endurance,
and top speed,
how fast could we run a perfect 100 meter race?
A physiological analysis of various components of the forces on a runner when their feet are and are not in contact with the ground, based on real world analysis of elite runners.
Credit: P.G. Weyand et al., Journal of Applied Physiology, 2010
Initially, you must wait 0.10 seconds after the gun before moving; any faster is a false start.
In 2011 at the World Athletics Championships in South Korea, a single false start disqualified world record holder Usain Bolt from the 100 meter race. Reacting to the gun faster than 0.1 seconds results in a false start, as humans cannot react quicker than that.
Credit: Associated Press
Human reaction time is limiting; any faster is evidence for anticipating the gun.
This table shows the average age and reaction times of finalists at 100 meter events in the Women’s World Athletics Championships from 1999 through 2019. Although there is substantial variation in reaction times, reacting faster than 0.1 seconds always results in a false start.
Credit: P. Mitasik et al., Acta Facultatis Educationis Physicae Universitatis Comenianae, 2021
Elite sprinters can apply peak forces of 800-1000 pounds (3560-4450 Newtons) to each limb.
The anatomy of a human leg under tension for running (blue) and hopping (red) gaits. Human legs achieve maximum forces of 800-1000 pounds while running, and up to 30% greater while hopping. Beyond ~1300 pounds of force, human bones will break.
Credit: P.G. Weyand et al., Journal of Applied Physiology, 2010
Beyond ~1300 pounds, ideal human legbones would surely break.
US Sprinter Christian Coleman is one of the fastest starters and accelerators in sprint history, and is arguably the world’s most superior runner at distances of 60 meters and under. His lower top speed than other sprinters kept him from making the US Olympic teams in the 100 and 200 meters in 2024, as he place...
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