Scientists Assess Athletes of the Future

Sept. 27 -- Sprinters faster than a thoroughbred horse. Female swimmers withthe shoulders and swagger of linebackers.Weightlifters generatingenough energy in a single clean and jerk to illuminate your house — and your neighbor’s.

World records are falling in bunches at the Sydney 2000 OlympicGames.

The athletes’ performances are the product of superb genes, hardwork and, increasingly, science.

Body Analysis

Years ago, scientists — physiologists, kinesiologists,nutritionists, biomechanists, even physicists — began applyingtheir knowledge to athletes. As a result, practicing a sport forhours is no longer enough to win.

In the lungs of cyclists, they measure the maximum oxygen intakein milliliters per kilogram of weight per minute.

In the fast-twitch muscle cells of a rower, they determine theuse of energy-producing adenosine triphosphate and the buildup offatigue-inducing lactic acid.

Using computers, videotape and sensors, they streamline thetrajectory of a weightlifter’s hoist, or a gymnast’s vault.

Combined with more than 1,000 hours of intensive training ayear, how much might science improve an Olympian’s peakperformance?

Maybe 1 percent.

That’s often the difference between a gold medal and a silver.For now.

But are we reaching the upper limits of athletic performance?Are the world’s top athletes, in the words of British biochemistGuy C. Brown, “doomed to battle … over ever-diminishingfractions of seconds and centimeters?”

Or can more science help Olympic athletes improve significantly?

Women to Pull Ahead?

Both, Brown says. In a study published in the journal TheSciences, Brown reports athletes’ performances have improvedsteadily since 1900.

For example, the record time in the men’s 1500-meter run hasimproved by about 10 seconds every quarter-century. Menhistorically have outperformed women in most events, but the gap isnarrowing. In a 1992 UCLA study, scientists predicted the womenwould outrun men, especially in endurance races such as themarathon, by 2035.

By 2020, the editors of The Sciences predict, women will run the10,000-meter run a full minute faster than men.

But humans may soon reach the limits of physical fitness, Brownargues.

The overall limiting factor for athletes is the heart’s abilityto pump more freshly oxygenated blood through miles of bloodvessels.