Records Fell at the Track Worlds. A Trend? Not So Fast.

There are many other explanations, and technologies, that have been posited as reasons for recent fast times. Modern tracks are made of better materials that help with speed. The springy surface at the Tokyo Olympics was compared to a trampoline. WaveLight technology — a system of lights that blink around the track at a specified pace — has helped better pace world-record attempts. And fewer antidoping tests were conducted during the pandemic.

By their very definition, world records are outlier events. Attributing them to one cause, like the super shoes, is a fool’s errand. After his world-record performance in Tokyo, Warholm, who is sponsored by Puma, criticized the Nike spikes his competitor, Benjamin, was wearing during the race. “He had those things in his shoes, which I hate,” Warholm said.

The women’s 10,000-meter world record was broken twice within a few days last year, first by Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands and then Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia. They both ran it on the same fast track in the Netherlands equipped with the WaveLight system that is not used in most major competitions. Both races were more or less set up for world-record attempts, using track technologies and pacemakers, runners who lead the attempt for as long as possible before dropping out.

Gidey also set the world record in the 5,000 in late 2020, and added the half-marathon world record in late 2021. In the midst of those feats, however, she managed only a bronze medal in the 10,000 at the Olympics. A huge achievement undoubtedly, but also one that demonstrates the difference between tailor-made world-record attempts and championship races, where jostling, strategy and gamesmanship — and consequently, slower times — are paramount.

Gidey finally got her gold medal in the 10,000 at the world championships last week. Her time was more than a minute slower than her world-record run.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/sports/olympics/track-world-records.html