Matt Perryman Matt Perryman

Research indicates athletic performances may have peaked

From here: http://www.physorg.com/news185738503.html

There’s some interesting points raised, regarding inherent genetic limitations, the greater involvement of athletes from a wider talent pool from across the world, and the influx of both drugs and “technological solutions” into sports.

Most interesting:

“Future limits to athletic performance will be determined less and less by the innate physiology of the athlete, and more and more by scientific and technological advances and by the still-evolving judgment on where to draw the line between what is ‘natural’ and what is artificially enhanced,” [Berthelot] wrote in his paper, published in 2008 in the British Medical Bulletin.

If this is true, then it’s going to mean some very obvious – and depending on who you are, troubling – implications in the coming years, namely in the area of performance-enhancing chemistry and gene-therapy.

Of course, this says it all:

But performance based on science, not natural ability, may have less public appeal. And athletes who never improve may no longer hold our interest.

That’s always the catch-22, ain’t it?