After Eliud Kipchoge’s feat, what are the other records that challenge human limits

Perhaps because he had already accustomed us to his exploits, Eliud Kipchoge’s brand new record on the wide boulevards of Berlin would not attract so much attention. Or what if? Once again the prodigy that emerged from the Rift Valley – like the other long-distance phenomena – has pulverized the marathon sign and keeps alive the debate on the limits of the physical condition of the human being. It is true that Kipchoge has already covered the mythical distance of 42,195 meters in less than two hours (which was considered “impossible”), but she did so in a test without the regulatory attributes, three years ago at the Vienna Prater.

In amazement caused by these deeds, this Berliner has another “not just” fact: she is about to turn 38. While it is an age that may be appropriate for a marathon runner’s maturity point, when considering the hundred fastest runners in history, no one else has achieved his best score at that age … and Kipchoge will be close to accomplishing 40 years old (“master” or “veteran” is called that category) when, perhaps, he is looking for the third consecutive gold medal in the Olympic marathon …

Although Kipchoge had announced, upon his arrival in Berlin, that he was in excellent shape and ready “to run in the best possible way”, without putting the numbers on that ambition, anyone could be skeptical. The passage of him in the middle of the test in a partial of 59m.51. cleared all doubts. “I had planned to run the first half in 1 hour and 40 seconds, or an hour and 50 … But I felt really good, I was going fast.” Although he dropped slightly in the second stage divisions, he was still sufficiently below the previous record. Four years earlier, in Berlin, he had spent the first half in 1h01m06s, accelerating in the second (1h00m33s) for a total of 2h01m39s and a pace of 20.8km / h. Simply fabulous. That day and today.

The marathon, throughout its history in Olympic sports (part of the Games program since its reinstatement in Athens in 1896), has been reserved for “specialists”, athletes with supreme stamina. To the preparation, the pain and the high competition (and among these the Argentines, who have reached Olympic glory several times).

A revolutionary moment was marked by the 1960s, with the invasion of Africans – Ethiopians and Kenyans – with Abebe Bikila as the symbolic name of the time. Together with the process of “decolonization” of Africa, those countries have since established themselves as the mecca of track and field, the NBA of track and field in the medium and long distances.

Another milestone was the appearance of the first man under 2 hours and 10 minutes, the Australian Derek Clayton, who joined him more than half a century ago with 2h.09m.36s. in Fukuoka (1967) to reduce that record to 2h08m34s. two years later in Antwerp.

The world brand has remained unchanged for several seasons. And only in the mid-1980s – when the marathon ceased to be “the legacy of a group of gifted specialists” to become the great boom it is today, with New York as a symbol of that transformation – did the high society table also the level moved quickly.

Almost a decade ago, on September 29, 2003, Kenyan Paul Tergat was the first to run less than 2 hours and 5 minutes. He did it in Berlin, which has since “taken” the record: he has been improved seven more times, again in the German capital. To get another idea of ​​the accelerated progress of this test, remember that -with that sign- today Tergat is … 70th in the list of the fastest marathoners in history. Such is the degree of grandeur and progress, in which Eliud Kipchoge is the absolute king. For his brands and for his achievements.

The factors of progress are known: • The use of circuits such as Berlin, a city almost above sea level (53 meters is its maximum altitude), flat course, trees in various areas, wide avenues. And at the dawn of autumn, with an ideal climate of mild winds and temperatures ranging between 12 ° and 18 ° C.

• Seven of the top 20 brands in the world were set up in Berlin and the others, in similar circuits and weather conditions (London, Milan, Tokyo and Valencia).

• The explosive progress in footwear technology. The Nike / Vaporfly that Kipchoge used in his Vienna test are not licensed, but other brands with limits on carbon fiber plates that allow for smoother and faster movements are.

• There are also notable advances in the training systems of runners, not yet sufficiently widespread but summarized in “less quantity, more precision”, with a great deal of interference from everything that surrounds the runner: technological complements, assistance athletic trainers, doctors, physiotherapists. And all of this is also noticed in other high-performance sports.

• The preparation cycles at high altitude, which allow to increase the oxygen “transport” capacity. In the case of African athletes, it is directly their natural habitat.

Add to this the genetic makeup of African highland runners (Ethiopians and Kenyans are now joined by young prodigies from Uganda), professionalism, new sports equipment and advances in diets, the “combo” is perfect for understanding these developments.

The other records that challenge human limits

Athletics, being a branded sport (as well as swimming and, in many cases, cycling), are ideal tests of the physical progress of the human being. And the discussion of “limits” has always been the center of attention.

However, there are many specialists at major universities who believe these limitations exist. And that could be close.

Athletes, in their fight against time, try to discourage them.

When Kipchoge ran his marathon in under two hours (1:59:40 on 12 October 2019 at the Vienna Prater) he was dubbed the new “Bannister moment” in athletics. It dates back to 1954, when a British middle-distance runner – later a prominent surgeon, Roger Bannister – became the first man to go under 4 minutes in the mile (1,609.4 meters). A brand that today is within the reach of any middle-distance runner of a certain quality.

The 10 seconds for the 100-meter dash – broken only in 1968 – was another of the boundaries that were breached.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics a certain Usain Bolt breaks through with all his speed potential, bringing world records to 9s.69 in 10 meters and 19s.30 in 200. One of the most popular scientific studies of the time was published Mark Denny (University of California, Stanford), stating that “the limits are close”. A year later, Bolt set his records at 9s.58 and 19s.19 in Berlin – still valid today – and which emerge as the beacon for future generations of sprinters.

For cross-country skiers the challenge was similar, even if Kipchoge expressed several times that “I don’t believe in limits, I listen to my body and I challenge it”.

He is great because, in addition to being gifted for his natural conditions, he has also adapted to all challenges: he wins in the “major” and super-professional races that make up the usual circuit of marathoners, but also in those that require tactical skills (his two Olympic golds). He moves at will in the ideal climate and circuit of London, Tokyo or Berlin, but also in the heat and humidity that Rio and Sapporo have meant for his Olympic adventures.

Although that expedition to Vienna cannot be regarded in strict terms as an event – since the record had no chance of being approved – it did mean a warning about its chances. Using the anti-adjustment shoes, aided by 40 hares and with a special car that also improved the air they were running on, Kipchoge was deployed in less than two hours, arrived whole and said that “these last 200 meters are were the happiest of my lives. I felt I had reached the Moon and returned to Earth. “

Then there was the period of the pandemic, a comeback with the defeat in London, the recovery of the leadership at the Games and, now, its demonstration in Berlin.

The terms of comparison with other specialties are very difficult. It is also assumed that the ingredients of those factors that advance the marathon (and which we have just mentioned) are not fully covered and that there is a field to keep moving forward. Even Kipchoge himself would be able to do it.

This is what it is about, athletics always sets limits and its great protagonists want to break them. How far away will the physicist be?

Probably the most outstanding score ever recorded was Bob Beamon’s 8.90 meter jump at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. However, decades later it was surpassed. Now on the boards there are peaks like those of the Cuban Javier Sotomayor (2.45 m. In the high jump) or those of Usain Bolt in the sprint that should be untouchable, at least for a long time to come. We do not consider in this account the records in the launches or in the various female events, achieved in the 80s and 90s, which are under discussion because the doping rules were not so strict. It would be a separate discussion.

The truth is that world athletics has produced simply amazing quality impacts in recent times. Like the 6.20 m of the Swede Armand Duplantis in pole vaulting and the 45.94 of the Norwegian Karsten Warholm in the 400 meters hurdles, at the Tokyo Games, a record that fell into the “impossible” category. Maybe even the Kipchoge thing. But he’s getting used to us.