Late last evening, I read the ever-informative article written by Nate Silver in which he explains why a couple of disciplines in the Olympics 2012 are more likely to produce record-breaking performances than others. In that piece here, he mentions that swimming has advantages in the sense that the records have improved at every edition of the games. In his view, swimming is one of the sports disciplines in which the intense application of technology and discoveries of science could still generate performances that lead to regular records. he states that other disciplines such as the sprints and field events are very close to the barriers of human physiology and capability and this explains the longevity of the records there.
What surprised me about the analysis is that Nate Silver completely did not mention the fact that while his model states that there is still scope for record performances in swimming, it is also one discipline that raises eyebrows about use of performance enhancing substances.
Consistent with Nate's expectation, China' Ye Shiwen shattered in the record in the 400 metres individual medley in world record time. As Andy Bull reports here, the impressive performance was so off the charts that it raised eyebrows about the swimmers integrity. A number of coaches have dissected the performance and note that it looks suspicious because of the unduly strong finish which beats the male swimmers winner in the same event in addition to the huge performance gains that the winner attained in the last few months.
One must be circumspect in assessment of this single performance but I still think that the performance is an outlier. This young athlete is truly gifted and has worked hard and deserves her reward. that notwithstanding, I would like to see a more objective analysis of her finish which could have blown away the competitors in the equivalent male race. I echo the emerging consensus that this performance was unbelievable and that its not the last time it will be analyzed.
What surprised me about the analysis is that Nate Silver completely did not mention the fact that while his model states that there is still scope for record performances in swimming, it is also one discipline that raises eyebrows about use of performance enhancing substances.
Consistent with Nate's expectation, China' Ye Shiwen shattered in the record in the 400 metres individual medley in world record time. As Andy Bull reports here, the impressive performance was so off the charts that it raised eyebrows about the swimmers integrity. A number of coaches have dissected the performance and note that it looks suspicious because of the unduly strong finish which beats the male swimmers winner in the same event in addition to the huge performance gains that the winner attained in the last few months.
One must be circumspect in assessment of this single performance but I still think that the performance is an outlier. This young athlete is truly gifted and has worked hard and deserves her reward. that notwithstanding, I would like to see a more objective analysis of her finish which could have blown away the competitors in the equivalent male race. I echo the emerging consensus that this performance was unbelievable and that its not the last time it will be analyzed.
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