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On the ice, where until now everything was possible, one more turn, and another, and another, the doubt begins to sound: And if we can not turn more? In September 2016, skater Yuzuru Hanyu completed the first quad loop and, after mastering the flip or lutz, now intends to cross the last frontier, consummate a quadruple axel, fly four and a half laps, but until there. That is the human limit. Although the skates provide an artificial speed, no one can do a fivefold.
As the studies by James Richards , a biomechanic at the University of Delaware and a collaborator of the American team, conclude, it is a "highly unlikely" feat. Because of the weight of the skates, Hanyu and company can hardly exceed 45 centimeters of vertical jump - other athletes, such as Michael Jordan , overflow the meter - and, because of human physiognomy, they cannot turn at 500 revolutions per minute (rpm ) that I would need an acrobatics like that. «In the current quadruples the frequency is about 340 rpm and there are maximums somewhat higher than 400; to make a fivefold, an average of 400 rpm and a maximum of about 500 would be needed. Given that the movement of skaters is already optimized, that they already stick their arms and legs to the body as soon as they jump, I don't think anyone will fivefold, ”Richards analyzed Wired throwing his sport against the wall where other disciplines already clashed. Figure skating on ice, which not so long ago discovered the possibilities of jumping, joins classic modalities.
Last Sunday 11th, at the United States Championship, Simone Biles became the first gymnast capable of connecting a double mortal with triple turn to the ground to astonishment the world. His revolutionary leap was almost perfect - it only required a very slight correction in the reception - and, given the difficulty of improving it, he left a question already known on the tapestry: And now what? «Now, little else. The only thing would be to do the extended jump instead of grouped as Biles did. Putting it one more turn seems impossible. We are at the limit. There are also gymnasts doing triple mortals, but the difficulty is maximum. Biles has it all: a compacted body, power, speed, orientation in the air ... She is an athlete of those who go out every 100 years », recognizes Lucía Guisado , Spanish coach of artistic gymnastics, with a close example: men.
The double with triple Biles did it for the first time in 2004 a Korean, Ri Jong Song , but those who have managed to complete it still have one hand and only the Japanese Kenzo Shirai , Olympic jump champion in Rio 2016, has nailed it in iron. In the last World Cup, in fact, nobody tried. «I do not think that in our sport everything is invented, but to add a movement of maximum difficulty, we have to do something superhuman. I think it could only happen if soil technology continues to evolve, ”Guisado concludes. And here is the key: the help.
Along with the pitches - baseball, handball, javelin -, the jumps are the specialty in which the human being is closer to its top and innovation is the only open door to improvement. As it happened in swimming with polyurethane swimsuits or in the background athletics with carbon fiber sneakers, in all disciplines there are factors still to be explored. In artistic gymnastics, it is evident, there is the ground itself. Before the Rio 2016 Games, the carpet was placed on wood and foam rubber; Now the docks have been incorporated, which favors acrobats and, especially, those very powerful, such as Biles. If you continue exploring that route, perhaps someone will dare with a triple mortal with a double turn, for example; if it is restricted, then yes, Biles will be unattainable.
A precedent for this is found in length. In 50 years, since Bob Beamon's extraordinary world record at the 1968 Mexico Games (8.90 meters), only one man, Mike Powell , has surpassed that mark (8.95) and did so on a surface that today It would be illegal. As Mike Gee , coach of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) later admitted, the 1991 Tokyo Games tartan starring Powell was excessively tough, but the regulations had been agreed in 1990 and the Japanese Olympic organizers lacked time to adapt . Today, the trap could be in the opposite direction, the floating platform, but it remains to be seen.
At the moment, in athletics, the world records of jumps remain unchanged. If in male length, Powell turns 28 as a record holder; in female length, Galina Chistiakova has 31; in male height, Javier Sotomayor has endured for 26 years; in female height, Stefka Kostadinova , for 32 years; in men's triple jump, Jonathan Edwards has turned 24; and in triple female jump, Inessa Kravets also adds 24. Although there are aspirants to overcome those records, their durability proves the proximity of human limits, and in certain cases, the overcoming of these due to doping.
«It is a paradox: we all think that records can be broken, but also that one day it will be impossible to do so. In some modalities we are close to the maximum. In length, for example, Jesse Owens would be an Olympic medalist in Tokyo. The evolution has been short. It is also demonstrated by the number of injuries suffered by jumpers today, ”says Ramón Cid , former Spanish athlete and tracker until last October. According to his experience, only a change in regulations - for example, allowing him to beat with two feet in height - would cause a revolution like those experienced after the arrival of the mats or the Fosbury style. Already (almost) we cannot jump higher, since (almost) we cannot jump longer, since (almost) we cannot turn more in the air.
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