Major sports such as football, tennis and rugby get extensive media coverage. Less ubiquitous sports such as swimming and cycling usually have to wait until the Olympics or major event to get significant coverage. Table tennis rarely sees much coverage outside of the Olympics, even during a major event. However, this month, table tennis is […]
Sprinting in the wind
The effects of wind on long distance running have been discussed on this blog previously, particularly on marathons. Now with the approach of the World Athletics Championships, I thought I would look at the effects of wind on sprinting. I will begin with my own experiences – when I was a teenager I was an enthusiastic 100m […]
Is it possible for Haile Gebrselassie to break the 2 hour barrier?
Introduction Haile Gebrselassie from Ethiopia is one of the greatest marathon runners of all time. He set the current world record of 2 hours 3 minutes and 59 seconds at the 2008 Berlin Marathon. Recently he announced his retirement, after dropping out of the 2010 New York Marathon with an injury. He later reversed his decision following a letter from Brendan Foster. “My announcement in […]
How Far Could Usain Bolt Jump?
Introduction Usain Bolt is currently the fastest sprinter in the world. His two world records in last year’s athletics world championships were astonishing even for his standards, but what next? Bolt has often talked about reverting to competing in his original event of the 400 metres, and has already competed in a 400 metre race […]
Engineering Sport 