3 ms·
The sprinters have speakers near their starting blocks that broadcast the start noise. If this seems excessive, consider that a starting pistol noise takes long
by jvanderbot 2y ago
The sprinters have speakers near their starting blocks that broadcast the start noise. If this seems excessive, consider that a starting pistol noise takes longer to reach the outer lanes from the inner ones than was the margin between first and second place in this race.
- layer8 2y agoThis just illustrates that this specific competition has become meaningless. It might measure their auditory reaction time more than their sprinting speed.
- iambateman 2y agoDoes it? I join millions of other people who find it enjoyable to watch. By that measure it's meaningful. In fact, more meaningful than the _vast_ majority of Olympic events which have less parity and orders of magnitude fewer viewers.
- layer8 2y agoWe are using “meaningful” in two different senses. Of course, what people find meaning in isn’t necessarily rational.
- haswell 2y agoIn what way is someone who still finds this event meaningful engaging in irrationality? Every competition has factors preceding and during the moments of measured performance that are like this. You could also say that a runner’s performance is about their ability to train consistently, apply self discipline to their daily lives, perform under pressure, etc. It seems odd to me that in the sum of all moments leading up to the start of a race, somehow reaction time would no longer be relevant. If a runner gets distracted by the crowd, that’s just as impactful to the race but has nothing to do with their potential speed. The race is a measurement of all factors - mental and physical - and all participants are measured the same way.
- sebastiansm 2y agoIn every race the reaction time is a key factor. Don't see how you could exclude that factor from a race.
- jasonjayr 2y agoThey are measuring the human, and all aspects of the human. If a faster auditory reaction is intrinsic to the abilities of the runner, then that's an advantage they can exploit.
- noboostforyou 2y agoIt's a literal race to see who is the fastest - that includes reaction time would it not?
- cko 2y agoTo my knowledge the 40-yard dash (NFL combine) timer starts when the runner starts. I don't think this method would be as entertaining to watch.
- SirMaster 2y agoMaybe they should use a visual starting cue?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]