As
the 2012 London Olympic Games approach, tensions and dreams are at
their peak. Each of us is looking out for our favorite champion and
hoping this Games will be even more passionate than the previous
years. How many tears of joy or deception will be shed? These are
questions every supporter asks himself. Unfortunately, specialists of
the French institute of biomedical research and epidemiology (IRMES)
, think that sportsmen will shortly reach their limits. For the last
40 years, records have tended to stagnate. Breaking a record has
become an extremely rare event, to such an extend that Jean-Francois
Toussaint, director of the IRMES, believes that : “We will have
to forget the old motto of the Olympics game “faster, higher,
stronger” and replace it by “as fast, as high, as strong”.”
In 20 years, half of the records will not be breakable anymore. And
then, will sport still be as interesting ? Will the Games still
thrill us ? Do not worry, we can count on scientific and technical
advances to maintain the suspense.
History
of an unbeatable record :
The record of the
highest jump has not been broken for 15 years ! In 1993, Javier
Sotomayor, a Cuban athlete, jumped 2m45. Since this date, nobody has
managed to perform better. Why ? Simply because jumping higher goes
beyond human limits. Doctors says that higher than 2m50, muscles and
tendons could break ! All the athletes, who were close to this record
have been badly injured.
The
decline :
The
end of the world records is getting closer. Every scientist agrees :
we are reaching our human limits. The IRMES have ask mathematicians
to study the tendency of the records to find the ceiling of several
disciplines in the hope of determining when records will no longer be
able to be broke. Results are striking ! For 40 years, the number of
records being broken has not stopped falling. When we look closer, we
can see that history has already known two similar falls : during the
two world wars, men and women could not think about sport. However,
it is the first time we notice a such slowing down of performances
without any particular reasons. Then what are we going to do ?
Without records, will sports still be attractive ? Fortunately for
enthusiasts, several solutions appear to specialists.
RECORDS
HAVE STRAGNATED SINCE 20 YEARS
Sciences
serve sport :
Although, at first sight, a scientist does not seem to have much in common with an athlete, he turns out to be very useful for certain number of athletic disciplines. The creation of new lighter and finer swimming costumes allows the swimmer to improve their performances of more than 1 second by 100 meters which is very good since usually refereeing uses the hundredth of a second to announce a winner. It is that phenomenon which allows swimmers to break 16 records at the world championship of swimming in 2008. Indeed observations show that once a new technical innovation is designed, records increase quickly.
Birth
of G.M.O sportsmen :
However,
lots of federations want to limit the place of the innovation, as
they disagree with the transformation of their sports. That is why,
the level of illegal drug-taking may rise in the next few years.
Federations are afraid of scientific improvements, which could lead
to the creation of “genetically
modified athletes”. Such use of science will be very hard to
control. For the time being, we can only hope that sports' values are
strong enough to dissuade sportsmen from using this kind of
innovations. Let's hope audience pressure and the happiness of honest
victory will make convincing arguments
Exclusive
interview !
Ishan
Meyer, a common supporter and great basketball player, has kindly
accepted to answer our questions. He knows different sides of sport
very well and has strong convictions about sport's future.
_
Hello Ishan, thanks for answering our questions.
_
Hello
_
First of all, what is port for you in your daily life ?
I am a basketball player. I am 17 and I started playing when I was a very young boy, maybe 4 or 5 years old. Now I referee matches in Alsace. In my free time I also enjoy watching sports on T.V : basketball, of course, but also every kind of sport.
_
So why do you like practicing and watching sport on T.V ?
What does it offer you ?
I
think that watching sport and practicing sport are two different
things, two different views of sport. Actually I practice
basketball. It allows me to concentrate, to empty my head, to relax
and to have fun at the same time.
Watching
sport on T.V helps me to react to recent events, including world
championship. It is an occasion to learn things about disciplines I
do not really know, and to form my own opinion.
Refereeing
is the convergence between these two activities. I have to express
myself and be self-confident, but I need to stay focused. However I
never forget to enjoy it !
_
Did you know athlete have almost reached their human limits ? Do
you think the fact the records have become more and more unbreakable
will reduce the interest we give to sport ?
I
did know that but, to me, the end of the world records is a blessing
in disguise. Of course, for people who are watching it risk to be
less interesting because sport will be less impressive. But for the
athlete who practice sport, it will increase the feeling of taking
up challenges. After all, with perseverance and hard trainings, a
sportsman could still improve a record even if it is supposed
unbreakable !
It
depends on everybody, but I think if you are really interested in
something, it is not just because there are no records anymore that
you have to forget about training. For the time being, athletes and
spectators feel the need to practice and watch their favorite sport.
_
In your point of view, how can sport still be interesting in the
future ?
In
the future, the challenge will surely be to give the spectator the
urge to watch sport. It is quite clear they will have to make the
difference between collective or individual sports since collective
sports are not only interesting for the performance but for the team
spirit too. The organizers have to make the spectators want to live
the passion of the sport. For example, federations should help
national teams and motivated athletes to increase media coverages
and so reach all of the viewing audience. For me, this challenge is
the same as today.
_
Do you think scientific innovations are an advantage or a
drawback for sport ?
As
far as innovations are concerned, as long as they do not disturb the
athlete I do not think they are a disagreement. To me, and for
people who practice sport innovations are not very useful since not
everybody wants to break a record.
Nevertheless,
it is very important for the media because they always have
something new to say. But in my point of view, sport depends on
sportsmen.
For
the future, I hope federations or media will not put too much
pressure on the athletes because it would be a shame to distort
sportsmen just to break records.
Indeed,
according to numbers, sportsmen are reaching their human limits.
Scientific innovations have already helped several disciplines,
including swimming, to become more exciting. Unfortunately, science
can not save the sports industry. However, as Ishan suggested, there
are still many others alternatives. In the future, strategic sports
may become more and more interesting. Historically such sports as
rugby or basketball have changed their rules in history when records
stagnate. It helps them to stay attractive. Finally, with the
London's Olympic Games coming, future of sport surely depends on
supporters' opinions and crazy imaginations !
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