--- P N Heidenstrom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The greatest sprinter of all time (in terms of records as well > as world and Olympic titles) was Carl Lewis - consistently > a far slower starter than his opponents. Did he worry about > that failing (if it was a failing?). Has anyone ever speculated > on what his times might have been had he worked on his > start? Did his coaches complain loudly? Was he a great > sprinter in spite of his slow start, or a great sprinter because > of his slow start?
As great as Carl was, he had one opponent who was far better when "on," who also happened to be probably the best starter ever. I'd say that pretty conclusively tells us that each athlete has different strengths and weaknesses. I.e., it's ludicrous to suggest a slower start might yield a faster overall time, unless the assumption is the athlete is incapable of starting fast in controlled fashion, which is equally ludicrous when considering world class athletes. Furthermore, do we really need to dive back into the topic of reaction time and early stages of the race being two completely distinct issues? I would venture to guess that there is no relationship whatsoever between the two. Dan ===== http://AbleDesign.com - Web Design & Custom Programming http://Run-Down.com - 10,000 Running Links, Fantasy T&F ------------------------------------------------------------ @ o Dan Kaplan - [EMAIL PROTECTED] <|\/ <^- ( [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] ) _/ \ \/\ (503)370-9969 phone/fax / / __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more http://taxes.yahoo.com/