Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Which channel is the women’s balance beam final? Doesn’t seem to be on anywhere.

Edit: Ch205
 
This track is crazy fast. So many records, so many PBs. Makes you wonder how "legit" these records are.
 
Oh look, the women's 400m hurdles WR is also broken by both first and second place.

1628052213363.jpeg
 
pinball wizard said:
I heard someone earlier this year say that there would be many records falling this year. They linked it to the pandemic and the decrease in anti-doping testing around the world.
Click to expand...

So the track itself is built to be fast - 1.4 mm thick with a hexagon structure underneath filled with rubber like balls which provide a type of air shock absorber and a bit of a trampoline effect. IIRC the people who constructed it mentioned a 1-2% performance increase.

But the biggest culprits seem to be the shoe technology. It's a bit of a read but insightful:

www.reuters.com

Athletics-Records set to tumble but how do we know what's great any more?

A stack of Olympic and possibly world records will be broken on the Tokyo track over the next two weeks but, such has been the incredible impact of shoe technology on performance lately, that nobody quite knows what constitutes great any more.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
Jamie Webb, who also bettered Coe's mark in normal spikes in the same race, explained how he was "stunned" when he first tried the new technology.

"You feel a sense of propulsion when you run in them and they allow you to run with more efficiency and stay on at the end of a race," he told The Times.

"I stopped using the shoes because they made it difficult to measure myself against previous training sessions. But I will use them in races as I will be putting myself at a disadvantage if I don't."
Click to expand...
 
It's like shoe doping.

What shoes did our runners wear? :ROFL:
 
Hamster said:
So the track itself is built to be fast - 1.4 mm thick with a hexagon structure underneath filled with rubber like balls which provide a type of air shock absorber and a bit of a trampoline effect. IIRC the people who constructed it mentioned a 1-2% performance increase.
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware of that.

Isn't it a little BS to do that? Shouldn't athletics tracks that host major events be built to the exact same standard?
 
wbot said:
It's like shoe doping.
Click to expand...
Advances in tech is part of it I suppose. Look at what happened with the indoor cycling: the word records were broken numerous times in the heats alone. Bikes getting faster and faster.
 
If we’re not breaking records then we’re not advancing as a species. I find it odd when records from the 80s and 90s still stand.
 
thestaggy said:
I wasn't aware of that.

Isn't it a little BS to do that? Shouldn't athletics tracks that host major events be built to the exact same standard?
Click to expand...

Well everybody is competing on the same surface so the outcomes are still largely based on individual strengths. And it makes for a good show/spectacle which means more money :p

Will be interesting to compare the WR counts with previous Olympic Games (somehow).

Anyway, found the article:
 
abzob said:
If we’re not breaking records then we’re not advancing as a species. I find it odd when records from the 80s and 90s still stand.
Click to expand...
You have to wonder how many of those long-standing records might have been doping-assisted.
 
Hamster said:
Well everybody is competing on the same surface so the outcomes are still largely based on individual strengths. And it makes for a good show/spectacle which means more money :p

Will be interesting to compare the WR counts with previous Olympic Games (somehow).

Anyway, found the article:
Click to expand...

Yes, but it could trigger a bit of an ''arms race'' that artificially lowers world record times as successive host nations want to be the event where new benchmarks are set.
 
thestaggy said:
Yes, but it could trigger a bit of an ''arms race'' that artificially lowers world record times as successive host nations want to be the event where new benchmarks are set.
Click to expand...

Surely you mean “legs race”?
 
Hamster said:
Advances in tech is part of it I suppose. Look at what happened with the indoor cycling: the word records were broken numerous times in the heats alone. Bikes getting faster and faster.
Click to expand...
Similar thing happened in swimming, swimsuit technology got so advanced Fina had to ban the full body suit in 2009.
 
abzob said:
If we’re not breaking records then we’re not advancing as a species. I find it odd when records from the 80s and 90s still stand.
Click to expand...
The golden age of steroids.

Hard to beat what were literally superhuman feats.
 
Hamster said:
So the track itself is built to be fast - 1.4 mm thick with a hexagon structure underneath filled with rubber like balls which provide a type of air shock absorber and a bit of a trampoline effect. IIRC the people who constructed it mentioned a 1-2% performance increase.

But the biggest culprits seem to be the shoe technology. It's a bit of a read but insightful:

www.reuters.com

Athletics-Records set to tumble but how do we know what's great any more?

A stack of Olympic and possibly world records will be broken on the Tokyo track over the next two weeks but, such has been the incredible impact of shoe technology on performance lately, that nobody quite knows what constitutes great any more.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
Click to expand...
Is all that legal?

These new super shoes with massive spongy soles, especially the versions for long distance running, have had the sole thickness limited to prevent the mechanical advantage they offer getting out of hand.

I would have thought the tracks would all be standardised, records are supposed to be a reflection of the runners ability not the amazing track technology.
 
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