This sounds like a stupid question, and perhaps it is, or at least partially so. A world record tells us that the person who was able to set it not only won the race in which he or she participated, but is also the best
ever
in that field. So obvious that it probably wouldn’t even make sense to wonder. In the field of running and cross-country specialties of athletics, however, there has been much discussion for a few years about the truthfulness or not of the new records and on the actual possibility of comparing them with what had been recorded up to that point, given the many differences in athletic preparation and technological support that existed for the various components on the field. Probably then it would be better to ask: What is the point, TODAY, of a world record? Here, perhaps an answer to this question can be found that is not so obvious.
Only a week ago, in London, we expected a scintillating race in which the multiple Marathon champion, holder of the world record and Olympic gold Kipchoge should have tried to shave a few more seconds off the record, on the strength of the fact that he has already managed to go stronger than himself, albeit in a non-sanctioned event with many variables not normally repeatable in competition. If you followed the race you know that not only did he fail to improve, but he also-for the first time since he has been running Marathons-finished off the podium. Kitata won, with Kipchumba second and Lemma third, in a finish that alone was worth the wait, but they were nowhere near the record. A few days later, in Valencia,
Letesenbet Gidey
(14’06″65″) in the 5,000 meters and
Joshua Cheptegei
on the 10,000(26’11″00″) have, instead, lived up to expectations in an event planned in great detail specifically to lower world record times on their respective distances on the track, with hares pacing for a portion of the race and especially with a series of lights indicating in blue the pace to be kept for a new record and in green the pace of the previous record (the technology is called Wavelight, translatable as “light wave”). Each time a new record obtained under special conditions comes up you read opinions very conflicting about these modes of running and that in doing so you lose a lot of the poetry of athletics, because the two new record holders of the women’s 5,000 and men’s 10,000 have ONLY Had to keep up with the pace of hares and the pace marked by lights. I don’t so much agree with that “only.”
Meanwhile, because if it were easy and all it took was to follow the lights, everyone would do it, and this is certainly not the case. Second, because the answer to the question with the addition of TODAY comes into play: a world record is needed .
To know that it can be done
. That there is someone, undoubtedly endowed with an uncommon talent and with a lot of work behind it, who believed it was possible to move that boundary that everyone–the majority at least–thought impossible to move. With the best possible conditions, the best technology, the proper study to do it, but .
He believed in it and succeeded
. Personally then, in these sporting feats that
seem
of one woman or one man, I always like to see the success of a group. Because in addition to the amazement and admiration one can feel for the great female and male athletes who materially achieve the record, there is the aspect of what attempting to achieve that record entailed.
There is the work of a team (or several) of doctors who were responsible for supporting the athlete by providing guidance on what diet to follow and how to manage the workouts, the team developing the foam for the sole of the shoe to be used so that he could feel less fatigue, those who accompanied the athlete through the countless miles of training, and all the other things that something like this entails. And this, in addition to the record for the athlete, brings for you and me, mere mortals who are running enthusiasts, something that in the immediate term we may not realize unless it is a really big leap: technological improvement and a general increase in knowledge. It translates into higher-performance materials the shoes are made of, better sole shapes and less wasted energy, undershirts that allow you to sweat less and dry faster, and new training techniques that no one had thought of before Have the need to do it to cross the line again. This is an argument that does not only apply to sportsmen and women, fortunately. Constantly developing technologies to detect pulse on the wrist, for example, thanks to the push from the world of sports, have gone from being a fad for those who could afford an expensive device to being used in many over-the-counter medical devices, cutting costs tremendously. Or shape memory foams, themselves derived from space research, from which so many soles of even inexpensive shoes are now made and which were originally intended only for the feet of elite athletes. Again, moving from racing to biking, carbon frames also found in affordable production bikes. And so on, we could stand to list dozens or perhaps hundreds of other things.
And so, if you were to ask me the question , “What is a world record for today?“, I might answer that it is not only for knowing that it can be done, but that it is .
Is to make our lives better
.
Photo credits: NN Running Team