So you’re saying my 25 year old spikes are the only thing stopping me from beating my 2003 PB? I knew it

Great video! but just wanted to point out the a 0.6% improvement in performance would not result in a 0.66 second reduction in time, It would result in a 0.06 second reduction. Keep up the good work

As soon as you showed the study that said more steps = more improvement, I instantly thought about the 200m and was pleasantly surprised that you went out of your way to look into both events! Great video as always coming into the offseason swinging truly

Incredible video. I love stats analyses like this. Crazy to think Bolt ‘could’ have theoretically run a 18.94 in the 200 with super spikes and +2.0 wind

HONEY, WHERE'S MY SUPER SPIKES?

This is a great vid. 9.42 was obviously dumb but even the realistic time is crazy. I knew super spikes were an advantage but I didn't know the difference was that great, especially for the women.

People thinking Bolt could have run that fast in 2008 is the most frustrating thing i have to read every once in a while

To my mind the event that benefits most from these spikes is the 400m hurdles. You need less energy to get over the hurdles and lose less momentum once you land. IMO its a big reason why the top 3 are regularly going sso far below 46.7, and why so many athletes regularly get close to 47 flat. Getting below 47.2 used to be a rarity in the Days or Bershawn Jackson and now guys are making Ed Moses look normal. Strange times

I ran with spikes like these at my indoor conference this season. They weren’t even mine, a teammate let me borrow them since they weren’t running and I ran four events, PRing in almost every single one. Shoes even felt a little too tight but felt amazing to run in. Worked like magic

13:28 I think you forgot the part where you go Thanks For Watching

error at 6:13. 0.6% improvement would be 0.066s :)

Bro. There are people out there who unironically think Bolt would've run 8.9. Let me repeat. EIGHT POINT NINE if he didn't celebrate when he ran 9.69.

Flo-Jo had way crazier assistance in her 100m run than spikes.

How much have the spikes helped? Very simple answer - 0.04. Fastest ever pre-spike field was 2016 when the 20th fastest person ran 9.97, and the 50th fastest ran 10.01. 2025 is now the fastest field ever - the 20th fastest ran 9.93, and the 50th fastest ran 9.97. And that’s assuming the improvement is solely due to the spikes and not any other factors (noting the field has always gotten faster over time anyway).

Fastest 200m field pre-spike was 2018 when the 20th fastest person ran 20.04, and the 50th fastest person ran 20.30. 2025 is also now the fastest 200m season ever; the 20th fastest person ran 20.02, and the 50th fastest person ran 20.20 - so about 0.06-0.07 faster.

I think the track surface plays a major part as well. Look at the 1991 world championship's results, the men's 100 meter final and long jump final.

Damn... that's a good vid I didn't expect!
Hope you do one on middle distance too
<3

Absolute banger of VID! Was hoping you'd go into the 200 and sure enough there it is, improvements like these remind me of a game update effecting speedrunners and they often slip the categories because the comparison isnt fair between them, I wonder how many great athlete times will be forgotten as more and more new athletes can beat their times with new equipment

Insane data, thanks for doing the work. At 10:04 I was wondering: Wouldn't the average be 27.1? Since the average age of those listed as being 26 years old would rather be 26.5 years, right?

Great video and good job crunching the numbers to give at least some idea on how much the new shoes actually help.

Great video as always