One thing is certain about an athletics world record... it will always be broken.
As athletes become ever fitter and as coaches discover new tweaks to techniques, even feats once deemed insurmountable are surpassed.
Now an expert has calculated where the furthest limits of the human body’s abilities lie, and concluded that some records will be set and never broken.
The fastest man on the planet - for now: Usain Bolt's world record time for the 100m will eventually be surpassed by more than half a second according to forecasters
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt’s run of 9.58seconds in the 100metres seemed unbeatable at the World Championships in Berlin last year.
However, according to American broadcaster John Brenkus, of cable TV show Sport Science on ESPN, someone will one day run the distance in 8.99 seconds.
But he calculates this won’t happen until 2909, almost 900 years from now.
The four-minute mile was once thought beyond human capability, until it was achieved by Roger Bannister in 1954. But his feat was matched another 300 times over the next decade.
The record, by Hicham El Guerrouj, now stands at three minutes 43.13 seconds. Mr Brenkus says this will one day be reduced to three minutes 18.87 seconds, beyond which humans can progress no further. He said: ‘We have room for improvement in the mile.’
His forecasts, in his book The Perfection Point, are based on studying 200 athletes in California to break down the ‘components of a perfect performance’.
He said: ‘It’s not just the athlete. It’s physics and biology, the environment and equipment.’
The final element is psychological. ‘We thought the ultimate limit for the 100metres would be 9.01 seconds but there is a psychological barrier of nine seconds.’
The marathon, though, is close to its perfection point. Haile Gebrselassie’s 26-mile record of two hours, three minutes and 59 seconds will be reduced, but only marginally – to one hour, 57 minutes and 57 seconds.
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