TED Talk Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger? Speaker: David Epstein 第二课
Consider a longer event.
In 1954, Sir Roger Bannister became the first man to run under four minutes in the mile.
Nowadays, college kids do that every year.
On rare occasions, a high school kid does it.
【选择】-How has the significance of Roger Bannister's accompliment changed over time? -Althouth he was the first to run a 4-minute mile, it is no longer rare.
As of the end of last year,1,314 men had run under four minutes in the mile,
but like Jesse Owens, Sir Roger Bannister ran on soft cinders that stole far more energy from his legs than the synthetic tracks of today.
【词义】Synthetic products = made from artificial materials
【选择】-What disadvantage did Bannister and Owens share? -They both ran on soft cinders. 在柔软的煤渣上面跑步。
So I consulted biomechanics experts to findout how much slower it is to run on cinders than synthetic tracks, and their consensus that it's one and a half percent slower.
So if you apply a one and a half percent slowdown conversion to every man who ran his sub-four mile on a synthetic track, this is what happens.
Only 530 are left.
If you look at it from that perspective, fewer than ten new men per [year] have joined the sub-four mile club since Sir Roger Bannister.
Now, 530 is a lot more than one, and that's partly because there are many more people training today and they're training more intelligently.
Even college kids are professional in their training compared to Sir Roger Bannister, who trained for 45 minutes at a time while he ditched gynecology lectures in med school.
【选择】-How do runners tody compare to Bannister? -They have access to much better training methods than Bannister did.
【跟读】Technological advancements have helped swimmers achieve faster times.
And that guy who won the1904 Olympic marathon in three in a half hours, that guy was drinking rat poison and brandy while he ran along the course.
That was his idea of a performance-enhancing drug.
Clearly, athletes have gotten more savvy about performance-enhancing drugs as well, and that's made a difference in some sports at some times,
but technology has made a difference in all sports, from faster skis to lighter shoes.
【选择】Epstein suggests swimmers have achieved faster times due to... technological advancements.
【跟读】Technological advancements have helped swimmers achieve faster times.
Take a look at the record for the 100-meter freestyle swim.
The record is always trending downward, but it's punctuated by these steep cliffs.
This first cliff, in 1956, is the introduction of the flip turn.
Rather than stopping and turning around, athletes could somersault under the water and get going right away in the opposite direction.
This second cliff, the introduction of gutters on the side of the pool that allows water to splash off,
rather than becoming turbulence that impedes the swimmers as they race. 【词义】If the progress of sth. has been impeded, it has been... vt. 阻碍；妨碍；阻止 hindered
This final cliff, the introduction of full-body and low-friction swimsuits.
Throughout sports, technology has changed the face of performance. 【跟读】
In 1972, Eddy Merckx set the record for the longest distance cycled in one hour at 30 miles, 3,774 feet.
Now that record improved and improved as bicycles improved and became more aerodynamic all the way until 1996,
when it was set at 35 miles, 1,531 feet, nearly five miles farther than Eddy Merckx cycled in 1972.
But then in 2000, the International Cycling Union decreed that anyone who wanted to hold that record had to do so with essentially the same equipment that Eddy Merckx used in 1972.
【选择】-Why does the Internation Cycling Union requires cyclers use bycicles from 1972? -To ensure all of the athletes are using the same technology.
Where does the record stand today?
30 miles,4,657 feet, a grand total of 883 feet farther than Eddy Merckx cycled more thanfour decades ago.
Essentially the entire improvement in this record was due totechnology.