These Olympics were weird.

On the one hand, they were exciting, fun, and even lived up to the hype.

On the other hand, they were demoralizing - that one line we all chase after, even as viewers…despite adding dozens of new events, we as a species are struggling MIGHTILY to break world records (outside of the velodrome)…

Why? What factors are causing this?

It depends on where you look…in this video, I discuss closed-skill sports limits, such as sprinting…and open-skilled sports limits…

I spoke with several people to make this video possible and I want to thank them - Dr. Timothy Olds, who wrote the original paper and counted the “Big Bang of Body Types” along with his partner.

Special thanks to Dr. Peter Weyand, who the head of Kinesiology at TCU…and runs his own “speed lab”...

Seth Partnow, former head of basketball analytics for the Bucks and current writer for The Athletic, for his help (as always) with NBA analytics...he kindly pointed out the difference in midrange shooting in his book "The Midrange Theory" (well worth a read for basketball heads).

Other sources:

Epstein, David - "Are Athletes Getting More Athletic?" (Jesse Owens vs. Bolt comparison)
"Olympic Athletes are Approaching the Limits of Human Performance" Washington Post (world records)
"Morphological evolution of athletes over the 20th century: causes and consequences" Olds, Norton





Hope you enjoy!


00:00 The Big Bang of Body Types
01:18 A summer night in Berlin…
02:01 Are athletes getting more athletic?
08:00 Basketball Time Dilation
11:30 The Dream Team vs. The Avengers – A New Hoops Human Limit
16:10 More science than sociology…