How fast do you think the ancient olympians were?

It can't have helped the times in the events longer than one stade that the turn was a 180 degree turn around a pole. Everyone would lose all their momentum.

Interesting discussion. You can make a case either way. Today's athletes have some big advantages:

1. They are specially focused on training for the event. Ancient men developed for the activities that kept them alive. Which wasn't running precisely 100M or 10K. Also Ancient men were by necessity all around athletes. They may have had to be fast but they also had to be strong thereby taking away their speed. In a sense they were all decathletes.

2. Today's nutrition for pro athletes are superior. Pretty much everyone in ancient days had to go through some period of starving. Not exactly healthy for peak performance.

3. The population of the world 2000 years ago was, what, 1/100 of what it is now? Odds are good that if Bekele is the best out of 6 billion people, he could beat the best out of 600 million

On the other side of the coin.

1. Anyone living in ancient times was a full time athlete from the day they were born. Everyone back then must have been extremely in tune with their body in a way that only professional athletes can comprehend.

2. The level of intensity in their "training" had to have been high. You either run fast or you die. The ultimate in threshold training.

World records, for longer events than mentioned

Larry Bird stinks wrote:

  wrote:

I have the results at hand. Here.

100m 19.19

200m 43.18

400m 1:41.11

800m 3:41.83

1500m 7:20.67

5000m 26:17.53

This is about right.

I'm gonna bump this thread just because it's so interesting. Maybe someone has something else to add.

Doesn't matter how fast they were. Too many allegations of opium use on their letvsrvn forvm.

im weak

if I am not mistaken, I believe it would have been considered cheating to train specifically for the ancient olympiad (I may be wrong though)

So based on that, I would say probably pretty slow with the exception of a few messengers who ran everywhere

someone please tell me... wrote:

HOW has this article not been posted yet???

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE59D0BR20091014

It is entitled "Modern Man a Wimp, Says Anthropologist".

This reads like one of those April Fool's articles. I always laugh when I see ancient footprint analysis "proving" they were 3 min Milers or something.

At our school we have a list of milers dating back to prior to 1935...in 1935 there is a guy listed that ran 4:16. Apparently at that time he was like one of the top in the country...

Hi April!

page 6:

Also, check table page 12 :

What does that mean?

How's life?

turkey leg wrote:

Why don't you guys research where that 26.2 distance actually originated.

Anyways, I would be seriously impressed if anyone could accurately estimate their abilities - by any method.

There's no way of determining if someone accurately estimating their ability. Someone could give a reasoned argument, but that's it.

Ryan Foreman wrote:2. Today's nutrition for pro athletes are superior. Pretty much everyone in ancient days had to go through some period of starving. Not exactly healthy for peak performance.

Do some top athletes do fasting these days? e.g. Muslims during Ramadan, but other religions as well.

Also, do some not train on the Sabbath?

Bummer Africa wasn't at those Olympics.

100m....11.50

How can someone analysing footprints not spell heel properly?