People may have touched the running speed limit

Top athletes like Paula Radcliffe and Usain Bolt may have reached the highest speed that the human body can perform.

Athlete Usain Bolt outstripped rivals in the 100-meter content run at the Beijing Olympics this year.Photo: Daily Mail.

Many experts believe that a woman cannot complete a marathon in less than two hours, 12 minutes and 41 seconds - which is less than Paula Radcliffe's record exactly 2 minutes 44 seconds.

And men can't sprint 100 meters in less than 8.48 seconds. Athlete Usain Bolt of Jamaica was astonishing at the Beijing Olympics this year with a 100-meter run in 9.69 seconds despite slowing down because of the joy before rolling the finish.

Dr. Mark Denny, a Stanford University biologist and marathon runner (USA), has been studying the ability of people, horses and hunting dogs to run for years. He believed that without drugs, humans and animals could only achieve a certain maximum speed.

There is much evidence that horses and dogs have reached their speed limits. After reviewing the statistics from the 19th century, Mark found that the maximum speed in major horse racing in the US has not increased since the 1970s. Dog racing time has not decreased since the 1970s. .

Mark's research also shows that women seem to reach the maximum speed of men before men. The data show that the highest rate of female athletes has increased very slowly since the 1970s, while the speed of male athletes has increased faster.

Using a mathematical model, Mark predicts that a woman's 100-meter running time still has the ability to reduce 0.4 seconds - meaning she will complete the distance in 10.19 seconds.

Many previous studies have shown that athletes' strength and speed have been continuously improved over the past 100 years thanks to better nutrition, more scientific training methods and modern support facilities. than.