Should 40-year-old track & field records be reviewed?
TRACK AND field has been plagued by doping violations for several decades. The most notable is arguably the 1980s when several athletes were found to have used performance-enhancing drugs. During this period, the performances of athletes were so good that they would still win medals today.
While there was an explosion in performances there was a simultaneous improvement in, and justification of strategies used to combat doping in sports. With the advances in doping control, however, athletes still ‘escaped’ detection using various means. The ‘BALCO Scandal’ is an example of this, where designer steroids were used nearly 20 years later.
It is not unreasonable to assume that athletes over the last several decades have competed unfairly without sanctions. They must, however, be considered innocent until proven guilty.
VERY SPECIAL RECORD
There is a very special record in the sprints that has been the topic of much debate over the years, especially among Jamaicans. I refer to the World record for the women’s 100m and 200m events held by Florence Griffith-Joyner since 1988.
That record has firmly stood untouched for 34 years, untouched despite improvements in track quality, sportswear, coaching, sports medicine, psychology and research.
While the athlete did not record times that were even close to the record before her 1988 performances, and retired shortly after the record, just before the introduction of mandatory random drug testing, the record is legal.
We should never assume guilt where doping is concerned, for the protection of innocent athletes.
There are, however, some statistics that may add some fuel to this debate.
LIST OF RECORDS
Here is a list of some of the records from the 1980s that still stand today.
100m – Florence Griffith-Joyner – 1988
200m – Florence Griffith-Joyner – 1988
800m – Jarmila Kratochvilova – 1983
4x800m Relay – Soviet Union – 1984
4x800m Relay – Soviet Union – 1988 Heptathlon – Jackie Joyner-Kersee – 1988
Discus Throw (women) – Gabriele Reinsch – 1988
Discus Throw (men) – Jürgen Schult – 1986
Shot Put – Natalya Lisovskaya – 1987
Long Jump (women) – Galina Christyakova – 1988
Long Jump (men) – Carl Lewis – 1984
High Jump – Stefka Kostadinova – 1987
Hammer Throw – Yuriy Sedykh – 1986
PEAK PERFORMANCE
This is a large concentration of records, some of which are almost 40 years old. An investigation of the trends in records indicates that we have not yet reached the peak of human performance. We, however, may be very close.
Looking at the men’s 100m record which was first ratified in 1912, we note that the World record then was 10.6 seconds. This time would not even be the fastest female time today.
By comparison, the first female 100m record was ratified in 1922 and was a time of 13.6 seconds. These times are significantly slower than the times we record today. However, the trend is what is important.
In an article published in the Sport Journal in 2019, the authors outlined the time it takes to break the respective track records. For both men and women in track and field, the time taken to break the record varies, but a majority of the records are broken in less than 10 years and a significant number are broken within five years.
ANOMALIES
The records listed above are either anomalies that indicate that we have reached close to peak human performance in the respective discipline, or the records are invalid due to incorrect recording or undetected doping violations.
Whatever the case, it is difficult to make that determination, so there can be no recommendations made regarding the removal or review of these records. We just have to wait and see if our athletes can challenge them soon.
While statistics have found an anomaly in the lifespan of these records, it doesn’t indicate any rationale for the anomaly.
EXPIRATION DATE
Should records have an expiration date? If not, would we acknowledge a record that is 100 years old? Would we be confident that the record was documented accurately and legally? Would we even care if all these records were held by Jamaicans? These are questions to consider when assessing these older records.
We should never allow bias to cloud objectivity when making our reviews. Consider an athlete who works hard to break a record legally. If that record stands for a thousand years, it is still a legitimate record that should be recognised until, if possible, a competitor can extend the mark.
There is a point where a man can throw no further, a point where a man can run no faster and a limit to human physical strength. If we have reached this point for some athletics discipline, then we accept and move on.
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Dr Aldeam Facey is a Lecturer and Head of Academic Programmes & Activities, Faculty of Sport, The UWI. He can be reached at aldeam. facey02@uwimona.edu.jm.