; "SUPERMAN: Usain Bolt could have broken his previous world record by 0,22 seconds under ideal running conditions, according to scientists at the University of Oslo. (Photo: Wikipedia Commons)")
SUPERMAN: Usain Bolt could have broken his previous world record by 0,22 seconds under ideal running conditions, according to scientists at the University of Oslo. (Photo: Wikipedia Commons)
Researchers from the University of Oslo receive international attention:
- Usain Bolt could have finished in 9,40 seconds
The 100 metres world record could have been 9,40, according to astrophysicists at the University of Oslo. Now the researchers are creating an international sensation.
På norskThe 100 metres world record for men could have been 9,55 seconds if Usain Bolt had continued to run as quickly as he could towards the finishing line, instead of starting the celebration 20 metres before he had reached his goal, during the Olympics final in Beijing on the 16th of August. This is according to a group of researchers at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo (UiO). The Jamaican still managed to set a new world record with a time of 9,69 seconds.
- We do not know exactly how fast he could have run and how tired he was, but according to our calculations, his time would have been between 9,55 and 9,61 seconds if he had not slowed down 20 metres before the finishing line, says Jostein Riiser Kristiansen, one of the researchers who took part in the project.
He also believes that Bolt could have run even faster if his start and the running conditions at the Bird’s Nest had been better.
- When we analyzed the race, we saw that Bolt reacted 0,03 seconds slower than Richard Thompson who finished second. In addition to this there was no measurable wind during the race, so if the wind speed had been the maximum of what is allowed, plus two meters per second, and if he had the same reaction time as Thompson, Bolt probably could have clocked in at around 9,40.
The researchers’ results have attracted a lot of attention internationally, and have been published on the web pages of British newspapers The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and The Times.
Jostein Riiser Kristiansen admits that it is fun to receive so much attention from so many different directions, but says that this also leaves an aftertaste.
- It is amusing that so many people care about what we found out during a short weekend, but at the same time it is slightly odd, considering that this is a pretty trivial thing. I doubt that we will ever again receive as much attention for any other research results that we come up with.
