Modern day athletes are breaking records constantly and there is no sign of slowing down. But is it really the athletes braking the records or it is the technology helping them break the world records. Companies like New Balance, Nike, and Adidas are trying to improve sports technology so athletes can reach their full potential. So are these improvements the only reason that new records are being set?

The most notable and comparable record that has broken recently was Jesse Owens 100-meter dash. In 1936 Jesse Owen ran 100 meters in 10.2 seconds, and he won the event. In 2013 Usain Bolt blew this record out by running it in 9.77 seconds. Even though Usain Bolt beat Jesse Owen by about .5 seconds some scientists think that Jesse Owens could have run the same time on a modern track with modern track spikes and the surface runners use now.

The first factor that would lower Jesse Owen’s time is a Carpeted track instead of a track made from wood ash. In an Infofit article titled Are Athletes Getting Better or Are We Learning How to Push Human Limits they say Jesse Owens could have been within a stride of Usain Bolt. He was originally 14 ft behind Usain but just the makeup of the track increased his speed. In this case Usain Bolt was faster than him even if they had the same exact running condition but Jesse Owens would have been much closer.

Another thing athletes do to make themselves better is practice full time. An example of this is the Football Association or the FA didn’t allow any soccer players to be employed or make a living off of only playing. Up until 1889 this was a rule but only in 1901 did they make a minimum salary for players. Some would only make about 300 dollars a month which is not nearly enough to live off of. Now athletes will be paid ridiculous amount of money just to pay and train full time. Now that they can train full time it provides them with a lot more time to get better and improve their performance.  

In conclusion athletes aren’t really getting better the technology is guiding them. Without the advancements the athletes form the 1900’s could be toe to toe with some our best athletes today.

Simkin, John. “Football Wages.” Spartacus Educational, Spartacus Educational, Aug. 2014.

“Are Athletes Getting Better or Are We Learning How to Push Human Limits?” Infofit, 7 Feb. 2017.