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Why Winning Athletes Are Getting Bigger

sciencedaily.com — A new theory by engineers has showed that not only have Olympic swimmers and sprinters gotten bigger and faster over the past 100 years, but they have grown at a much faster rate than the normal population.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 20, 2009

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  • ileftfark, on 07/19/2009, -2/+342 things:

    1) "In antiquity, body weights were roughly 70 percent less than they are today". Am I misinterpreting, or is he saying a 200lb athlete of today is equatable to a 60lb athlete of ancient Rome? 70 percent *of* today's athletes' weight does seems reasonable on the other hand...

    2) Is it possible that Olympians are not growing at a staggering rate, but that it may be due to a larger population base (which necessarily indicates greater variation) combined with modern ways for all types of people previously left to work the steel factory or mine shafts to get into athletics?
  • Renork, on 07/20/2009, -0/+211: I am guessing that line is a typo and it should read "In antiquity, body weights were roughly 70 percent of what they are today" Meaning that if the average weight of today's world class athletes is 200lbs than the average weight in antiquity would have been 140lbs. It is simply not possible for the average adult human body weight to have been 60lbs at that time.

    2: It is likely a combination of things. Genetics does not dictate a persons height, weight, or many other physiological traits with absolute certainty. For many things genetics accounts for a potential and the environment determines how close they come to reaching their genetic maximum. Due to increased knowledge regarding nutrition and training along with what you mention about a larger population base with the option to focus almost entirely on physical training the population of world athletes is increasing in size dramatically while the general population is only increasing at a moderate pace. The growth rate of athletes is unlikely to continue at its current pace without the intervention of science.


    That said, weight classes for sprints and swimming is a really silly idea.
  • jdmulloy, on 07/20/2009, -7/+22Steroids?
  • HurricaneDC, on 07/20/2009, -1/+10It's probably MUSSSCLLLEEE MILLLKKKKK
  • inactive, on 07/20/2009, -0/+9we gonna keep getting bigger and bigger like the dinosaurs did but then we gonna get wiped out by a meteor and than the dolphins will begin their reign on earth
  • replaysMike, on 07/20/2009, -4/+10they eat more bacon. We all know more bacon solves every problem.
  • JuanBSU, on 07/20/2009, -1/+7Yet any one of those "gayer" basketball players, gymnasts, soccer players, or football players could still kick your ass with no problem.
  • ericthesalmon, on 07/20/2009, -0/+4So successful athletes are bigger because bigger athletes tend to win.

    Science journalism is dying.
  • canudiggit123, on 07/20/2009, -0/+4I came looking for this.
  • freezerburn666, on 07/20/2009, -2/+6wouldn't it just be that taller people can have a longer stride and someone who's longer can touch the wall faster in swimming?
  • solid12345, on 07/20/2009, -4/+7White men still can't jump however
  • inactive, on 07/20/2009, -0/+3"Larger athletes lift, push and punch harder than smaller athletes..."

    Yeah tell that to Mike Tyson back in his prime.
  • lyssword, on 07/20/2009, -0/+2I'm guessing they can accelerate faster, but probably don't have as much top speed.
  • espotoaster, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1what goes on in ethiopia and kenya has nothing to do with the isolated genetics of african-americans though the 19th century
  • jamspt, on 07/20/2009, -0/+2That's not true.

    They have an advantage in uphills - but on downhills and flats the increased stride distance gives taller people a large advantage.
  • RBrenner14, on 07/22/2009, -0/+2No they couldn't.
  • Imabanana, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1I came too
  • inactive, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1their mahs didn't forget the ***** protein.
  • macmcraeart, on 07/20/2009, -1/+2lol the article says nothing about penis size.
  • adodds, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1I always thought that shorter people ran faster than taller ones??
  • exeprime, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1higher center of mass, more inertia, higher drag, having to handle a comparatively smaller board, etc.
  • dilbert, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1Spamboy! Reported.
  • cfuse, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1@Sanfranon5 - sure, but wouldn't it be an awesome show?
  • inactive, on 07/20/2009, -1/+2They forgot to mention in the article that goggles weren't used until much later in the 20th century, which dramatically reduced time/increased the amount of time a swimmer can train in the pool.
  • johannduplessis, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1I for one welcome our new athlete giant overlords.
  • dissolutionman, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1POWERRR BARRRRRRRS
  • Sanfranon5, on 07/20/2009, -1/+2To scale; an ant would be stronger than you could ever be.
    To scale; they could easily move at 60 mp.
    But you won't see an ant beating anyone at the 100 meter anything.
    And you wouldn't see Usain Bolt beating any normal sized human, even a triple amputee, if he were shrunk down to 1 cm tall.
  • Nubhole, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1There are a lot more people today than 100 years ago. Therefore there are many more athletically gifted people today with a higher probability of exceptionally large athletes. Likewise I'm sure the the weight of the fattest person in the world over the last 100 years has grown faster than the average rate of the population.
  • dvs1313, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1I think one could argue that more people who are of taller height would enter activities like swimming proffessionally as they do have a small edge on the competition as most taller people have longer arms/legs which means they can read the end of the pool with the tips of their fingers slightly before shorter athlets and their longer legs allow them to push off the wall ever so slightly better since they can push just a little bit longer. I however have a slight problem with my height, it seems the taller I got the harder it became to skateboard I am now 6'3 or 6'4 im not sure one of the two and sadly im not as capable at skating as i once was and i cant really figure out why.
  • inactive, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1Which is why I said black americans. Think Lebron and Jordan, 6'8 with the agility of someone 5'8 and twice the speed and strength. Lebron weighs 260-270. How many white american, european, or hispanic people are there on this world in the past 500 years that are 260+ and can run and jump like Lebron.. or Kobe.. or Jordan.. or Howard.. see where I am going with this? Don't say it's just training, Odom is 6'10, can play guard, and is addicted to candy.
  • undervalued, on 07/20/2009, -2/+2Evolution baby, super race starts today!
  • inactive, on 07/20/2009, -0/+0Oh boy xD
  • burjzyntski, on 07/20/2009, -2/+2I hate it when people say things like that. I'm pretty tall and, when i race people, they say that my legs being longer is my advantage and the reason that I beat them. This is a lame excuse as my muscles must also be stronger in order to move the extra weight of my legs; muscles should be proportionately strong to the person's size, therefore it isn't so much my extra length as it is my stronger leg muscles. I've played plenty of soccer with people more than a foot shorter than me, and they're fast as hell. And more agile.

    This can be applied to swimming as well. Just because you are taller doesn't necessarily make you a better swimmer.
  • freakFlag, on 07/20/2009, -1/+1The weight classes in sports like wrestling and boxing aren't there for fairness, they are present for safety, any person that has wrestled up or down a weight-class should understand that dynamic of personal safety.
  • hardtoconfuse, on 07/20/2009, -1/+1Not that super when faced with super cancer, and super disease outbreaks.
  • inactive, on 07/20/2009, -5/+4No you're wrong you ***** taint
  • inactive, on 07/20/2009, -1/+0cool story bro!
  • Wilddigi, on 07/20/2009, -4/+3More food
  • SFIndian83, on 07/20/2009, -2/+1Buried for soccer players.
  • brad3378, on 07/19/2009, -10/+8Viagra?
  • catvllvs, on 07/20/2009, -2/+0So... a midget, in theory mind you, should be able to beat you in a race?
  • macmcraeart, on 07/20/2009, -5/+2exponential increase in male enhancement (penis enlargement) spam?
  • Patzer111, on 07/20/2009, -8/+4I knew all those baseball players were telling me the truth!
  • Tolzmaniac, on 07/20/2009, -6/+2In a few more hundred years, Digg users will be the dominating force in sports!!
  • punkcat, on 07/20/2009, -6/+1shown, just saying.
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