At 10:56 PM 9/16/2002 -0700, t-and-f-digest wrote.. From: Jonas Mureika <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: t-and-f: Anticipating the Gun (was Assertions) >I weigh the three major factors influencing sprint times as: (1) wind, (2) >altitude, and (3) temperature.
Four other key factors that have an influence outside of the athletes control: 1) rounds (have a nonlinear effect) 2) humidity (combined with temperature, also changes atmospheric density) 3) crowd presence and participation (can energize an athlete) 4) competition level (obvious) Also, I suspect that temperature may have just as large an effect as wind over the full range in which competitoins are held (e.g., 55F to 105F). Fredricks ran a sub 10 in sub 70 weather a few years ago. Perhaps that was the greatest ever. It's probably appropriate to debate which performances were the best under the conditions, but those conditions are (1) not as quantifiable as one might think and (2) measurement error further compounds are efforts to quantify those factors. I think the problem that Phil Hersch alludes to may be more rooted in the issue that Garry Hill and I have harped on in the past--the overly strict wind assistance standard, especially given the many other factors that affect performances. The wind standard creates a situation where at least a third of the performances are not eligible for record consideration, but the standard ignores the many other factors that may have equal or greater influence. I know of no other sport that excludes such a large proportion of performances under standard conditions. Rather than further restricting performances, we should move toward expanding the conditions, and leave the debates about how to compare them to these type of lists where the most enthusiastic fans converse. RMc Richard McCann
