"Maximum human speed?" Topic

Following today's new world record, the BBC commentators were speculating as to the fastest he could go- apparently Usain thinks 9.5, but the BBC pundits (Michael Green, Denise Lewis, Colin Jackson) thought possibly as low as 9.4 seconds (38.3kmh/23.8mph).

Has anyone worked out the maximum theoretical speed for a unaugmented human being?

(note when Green and Bailey held the records they hit a peak speed of 11.8m/s- 42.48kph- about 26mph(!), both between the 50m-60m splits, covering that 10m in 0.85 seconds, with an Maurice Green making an average speed for the full 100m of 36.84kph.

According to Wiki Asafa Powell has made 48 km/h (29.8 mph).

I haven't found the splits for tonight's performance, but the update to the site I took the Green/Bailey info from gave Bolt's speeds in Beijing at av 10.32m/s for 100m and 10.36ms for the 200m. Yes- the 200 is quicker. Sprinters don't hit full speed until 20m, so with the 200 there is more distance at max speed. Bolt covered 200m in 19.3s, and 100m in 9.69s in China. This still doesnt qualify him to be a pedestrian in 'Car Wars')

"unaugmented human being"

What kind? African or European?

:)

Probably black, as they have the lowest fat/weight ratio. Probably not pygmies though.

I was making a "Holy Grail" joke. ;)

Yes, perhaps "laden" or "unladen" would have been more obvious. Or if bad English accents came through via typing.

:)

And kudos to Bolt. Faster than 23 mph, wow!

I was making a "Holy Grail" joke. ;)

Ah. It would appear my mother smelled of elderberries. I thought it was casual idiocy/racism, which confused me, because I couldn't work out why you were doing it! Sorry. (Look I work with a lunatic Nigerian, whose taken to addressing ?insulting? me in a ?Nigerian? language! Boundaries are getting confusing- remembering having a joke with him can be seen as racist by just about everybody who doesn't know him!)

Any thoughts on the actual answer?

unaugmented human being

Wearing trainers or barefoot? running on grass, sand, that spongy stuff they use for running tracks? With the wind or in still air?

I'd be more interested in maximum average long-distance speed, rather than peak sprinting – it's what we do best, after all.

Has anyone worked out the maximum theoretical speed for a unaugmented human being?

Slightly less than c, unless you're talking about maximum velocity generated by their own muscle energy.
-Kle.

32ft/sec/sec?
Over what distance?

An emperor of Rome, Maximo or something-like, could run down a horse at a sprint (my Gibbon is rusty)….

Hi

The surfaces of tracks have gotten faster even since I was on the track team as a youth. Makes it difficult to address the question when we are talking technology and augmentation from the track AND the shoes, and the starting blocks!

And, here is the cool part. We aren't designed as runners, but walkers. When a primitive human "chases down" a gazelle, he doesnt actually out run it, but uses stamina to walk, jog, stay close and keep the animal moving until it gets too tired to keep moving off. Get closer, use a tool, say a spear.

We took the evolutionary path of long range walking and using tools. Thus, our ultimate unaided speed is a factoid of no long term meaning.

Rocky

I'm just glad we invented sofas and remote controls. That's my kind of pacing and tools. :-)

i think the down hill skiers go faster,…. and they count as un ugmented just after the first tumble.

As long as I can run faster than the guy in front of me, I'll survive the upcoming zombie apocalypse.

Here's a story on the very subject:

link

-Kle.

I think Kim Jong Il can circle North Korea on foot in 15 minutes – running backwards.

Sad for Tyson Gay. Nobody will have ever heard of him.

Tyson Who?

No that sad thing for him is the Religious site in the US that is crusading against making homosexuality acceptable, so automatically replaces 'Gay' with 'Homosexual'. Unfortunately it does this with the Sports feeds too!

As you are all being awkward, I mean maximum human sprint, over 100m, 200m and peak speed sprints, unaugmented by equipment which adds speed, though equipment that reduces inefficiencies is allowed- eg, spikes are fine because they reduce slipping, but not if they add energy back (like the disabled athelete who runs on blades- he has been refused permission to run in able bodied races because of the advantage given by the blades), etc.

I would like to see some of these guys sprint using in line roller blades. I wonder how fast they could go.