How Fast Can a Human Run? − Bipedal vs. Quadrupedal Running
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Bioengineering, Computational Biology, Mathematical Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Kinesiology
- Keywords
- Biomechanics, 100-m sprint time, Trend extrapolation, Historical race data, Quadruped, Sport Science
- Copyright
- © 2015 Kinugasa et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2015. How Fast Can a Human Run? − Bipedal vs. Quadrupedal Running. PeerJ PrePrints 3:e1484v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.1484v1
Abstract
Background. Usain Bolt holds the current world record for a 100-m run, 9.58 s, and has been described as the best human sprinter in history. However, this raises questions concerning the maximum human running speed. Can the world’s fastest men become faster still? The correct answer is likely “Yes”. Methods. We plotted the historical world records for bipedal and quadrupedal 100-m sprint times according to competition year. These historical records were plotted using several curve-fitting procedures. Results. We found that the projected speeds intersected in 2052, when for the first time, the winning quadrupedal 100-m sprint time of 9.249 s was projected to be lower than the winning bipedal time of 9.350 s. Conclusion. Quadrupedal running is not a new running style, and has been used by all humans. This running style simply awakens a human locomotive instinct from an enduring sleep.
Author Comment
This is a preprint submission to PeerJ.