Once upon a time, way back in 1954, a man named Roger Bannister accomplished something extraordinary. He became the first to run a competitive mile in under 4 minutes. Breaking that barrier was big news at the time.
Yet in the ensuing half-century+, the bar for the world record mile mark -- like the limbo or the conscience level of politicians -- kept getting lower and lower. Since Bannister's feat, no pun intended, hundreds of milers have broken the 4 minute mark. Indeed, any current miler that turned in Bannister's time of 3:59.4 would likely find himself finishing at the back of the field. For that matter, almost a full 17 seconds -- and that's a lot in a single mile -- have been shaved off Bannister's former record. The current world-record holder is Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj, who turned in a time of 3:43:13. That happened in Rome, in 1999. Perhaps his record will someday fall, and perhaps not, but 14 years is a long time for such a record to stand. And even if someday someone comes along and bests Guerrouj's time, other than the significance of setting a new world record -- it's not like a magical barrier such as Bannister's first sub-4 minute mile will have been broken.
The 100 meter dash pretty much tracks (again no pun intended) the same way. In 1988 Jamaican turned Canadian Ben Johnson shattered the world record by turning in a time of 9.79. Alas, he would ultimately be disqualified (and disgraced) when a positive drug test reared its ugly head. But consider what has happened since. Many have broken even Johnson's tainted mark, though some, but not all would wind up being tainted themselves.
Maurice Greene would equal Johnson's time in 1999.
Tim Montgomery would best it by a mere hundredth of a second at 9.78 in 2002. (Later annulled after his disqualification from the sport for being tied to the BALCO scandal).
Justin Gatlin would do the same with a 9.77 in 2006. (Also later annulled after a positive drug test).
Asafa Powell came along the following year in 2007 to shave off another 3 hundredths with a time of 9.74.
These were all Americans.
But everybody knows who the recent king of the 100 meter dash has been. Jamaican Usain Bolt. He knocked another 5 mini-ticks off Powell's record with a time of 9.69. This is a full tenth of a second better than Johnson's old mark. That might not sound like a lot, but much like in the world of quarter mile drag racing, a tenth of a second from start to finish is huge. To date, not even the tabloids or the ever-present rumor mongers have come up with even a whiff up Bolt being anything other than squeaky clean. The man's just flat-out incredibly fast.
Maybe someday another speedster will come along and obliterate Bolt's record. It's entirely possible, perhaps even probable, given how each generation of athletes seems to be more finely-honed than the last through better training regimens, improvements in equipment (in this case, running shoes), and maybe even genetics. Hey, they've done it forever with race horses and show dogs. Can world-class athletes be far behind?
For that matter, yours truly once shattered Bolt's 9.69 mark in the 100 meters, though it was never officially recorded. Many moons ago, this had something to do with running from divorce court to my car in the parking lot at Terminator on steroid speed. Roughly 100 meters in 4 seconds flat. Still, I have heard my record has since been broken many times as well by others. Poor devils. I know their pain, and the warp speed that can result. But enough about that.
Getting back on topic, short of bionics, it's highly doubtful anyone will ever run a sub 3 minute mile, or a sub 9 second 100 meter dash. These are barriers that seem unattainable.
But another major running barrier might fall in the near future.
A hard look at the marathon -- all 26.2 miles of it -- next time.
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