Citius, Altius, Fortius

Are Athletes really getting Faster, Higher and Stronger?

“Citius, Altius, Fortius” is the Olympic motto, which is Latin for “Faster, Higher, stronger”.
In 1996, Jesse Owens held the world record in the 100 meter run be finishing it in 10.2 seconds.
Two decades later the same 100 meter run was finished in 9.58 seconds by Usain bolt. To put
it in perspective, when bolt finished, Owens would still have had 14 feet to go.

The race for the ages can be run only in our imagination: Usain Bolt vs. Jesse Owens. Bolt is in his 21st-
century lane, a smooth, slip-resistant rubber surface spread out for 100 meters, designed to quickly
return energy to his legs as he races across it. Then there’s Owens in his pre-World War II lane, an
uneven bed of cinders, a soft surface that actually steals energy from his legs as he runs. Bolt, the
Jamaican sprinting legend who has eight Olympic gold medals and has held the world records in the
men’s 100- and 200-meter sprints for nearly a decade, is wearing lightweight shoes made specifically
for running on high-tech surfaces. For his entire competitive life, he has received the finest training the
world has ever seen. He jets to competitions and has his own cook, who makes him lean, nutritious
meals. Bolt also has been at his peak during the height of the steroids era in sports. He has never tested
positive, but suspicion follows many top Olympic athletes of his time.

There’s a very popular phrase in sports: “Records are meant to be broken!”

From this above statement we can infer that whatever records are set now will be broken in the
future. This suggests that Athletes are really getting better.

So if it’s true, how does it happen or what are the reasons?

 Starting at an early age
 Technological advances and support
 Higher competition
 Fitness and diet

1. Starting at an early age:

Athletes who start at a very early age has had higher chances succeeding in the bigger stages.
One of the important perk of starting early is that you get your technique on point at a
very young age. Also, your goals would get inhabited inside your brain.
Let’s take the example of Sachin Tendulkar. He started at a very tender age of 4 and since then
he hasn’t looked behind. Starting early has helped his hand eye coordination, fitness for a match
and his mentality during a match. Once Mark Waugh stated that “Sachin can play the leg glance
even with a thin wooden stick”. Such was his precision at a young age.
 2. Technological advance and support:
Before we start on this topic, let us look at a statistical data.

Until 2010 Federer led the rivalry head to head by 13-6 after that Djokovic turned the rivalry
completely.
The changes Djokovic brought were:
 He got technical point by point analyzer and consultant (Till date he is the only tennis
player who has one).
 He switched his racquet to a bigger frame and changed the string material to complete
multifilament string rather than a natural gut.
 He added a mental trainer to his team in-order to keep his emotions in check.

Look at the change as a result. He completely changed the way he played against a single player.

3. Higher competition: