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Embarrassed by your Olympic javelin: did cavemen do it better? (2012)

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Re: Embarrassed by your Olympic javelin: did cavemen do it better? (2012)

#11

Post by peeters »

mikehotel wrote: post #6
Clewza313 wrote: post #3

Javelin is a bit of an outlier in the Olympics in that throws today are nowhere near the records, even after the changes discussed in the article. The winning throw this year was 87.58m, with only one other competitor managing even 86m. The world record, dating from 1996, is 98.48m , a full 10 meters and then some longer. Germany's Vetter, the one modern javelin thrower who has come within striking distance of that (…

From TFA: “ Also, javelins were increasingly landing flat, instead of poking upright into the turf, making distance-marking difficult, so in 1986 the International Association of Athletics Federations' technical committee authorized a new javelin design. The center of gravity was moved 1.6 inches forward, the tip was modified to make the javelin less aerodynamic, meaning it would nose down earlier and land sooner, re…

That doesn't explain why a WR from 10 years after those changes hasn't been even close to beaten recently.

Re: Embarrassed by your Olympic javelin: did cavemen do it better? (2012)

#12

Post by throwawaylinux »

mikehotel wrote: post #6
Clewza313 wrote: post #3

Javelin is a bit of an outlier in the Olympics in that throws today are nowhere near the records, even after the changes discussed in the article. The winning throw this year was 87.58m, with only one other competitor managing even 86m. The world record, dating from 1996, is 98.48m , a full 10 meters and then some longer. Germany's Vetter, the one modern javelin thrower who has come within striking distance of that (…

From TFA: “ Also, javelins were increasingly landing flat, instead of poking upright into the turf, making distance-marking difficult, so in 1986 the International Association of Athletics Federations' technical committee authorized a new javelin design. The center of gravity was moved 1.6 inches forward, the tip was modified to make the javelin less aerodynamic, meaning it would nose down earlier and land sooner, re…

OP was talking about a record set 10 years after that change.

I suggest avoiding terms like "TFA", which can be taken to insult someone's reading comprehension. I'm sure that's not what you intended but it can easily be misinterpreted.

Re: Embarrassed by your Olympic javelin: did cavemen do it better? (2012)

#13

Post by londgine »

yathern wrote: post #2

The article title might seem to suggest we have evidence that cavemen were could throw further than our best Olympic athletes... Instead, the article content is bemoaning that we have a standardized javelin that isn't as far-throwing as can be. Thus, the world record javelin toss may never be beaten. Yes, the permanent world record is a little unfortunate. But it has nothing to do with how cavemen would throw. Standa…

swimming technique and bicycle technically have improved a lot and all of the grading sports (gymnastics, diving) are constantly being changed since they were introduced into the Olympics. That is why so many of those records could be beaten. However it looks like Olympic archery does not allow a compound bow. I guess every sport decides if they want innovation or not.

Re: Embarrassed by your Olympic javelin: did cavemen do it better? (2012)

#15

Post by Ekaros »

Javelin is one of the sports that is limited by venues. That is area limited inside 400m running track. Where inside we simply do not want them throw too far.

We could easily design javelin that travels much further, but choose not to, due to safety concerns and limitations venues...

Re: Embarrassed by your Olympic javelin: did cavemen do it better? (2012)

#16

Post by inasio »

londgine wrote: post #13
yathern wrote: post #2

The article title might seem to suggest we have evidence that cavemen were could throw further than our best Olympic athletes... Instead, the article content is bemoaning that we have a standardized javelin that isn't as far-throwing as can be. Thus, the world record javelin toss may never be beaten. Yes, the permanent world record is a little unfortunate. But it has nothing to do with how cavemen would throw. Standa…

swimming technique and bicycle technically have improved a lot and all of the grading sports (gymnastics, diving) are constantly being changed since they were introduced into the Olympics. That is why so many of those records could be beaten. However it looks like Olympic archery does not allow a compound bow. I guess every sport decides if they want innovation or not.

There are also (lower) weight limits on bikes, bikes could be significantly lighter (also recumbent)

Re: Embarrassed by your Olympic javelin: did cavemen do it better? (2012)

#17

Post by sandworm101 »

londgine wrote: post #13
yathern wrote: post #2

The article title might seem to suggest we have evidence that cavemen were could throw further than our best Olympic athletes... Instead, the article content is bemoaning that we have a standardized javelin that isn't as far-throwing as can be. Thus, the world record javelin toss may never be beaten. Yes, the permanent world record is a little unfortunate. But it has nothing to do with how cavemen would throw. Standa…

swimming technique and bicycle technically have improved a lot and all of the grading sports (gymnastics, diving) are constantly being changed since they were introduced into the Olympics. That is why so many of those records could be beaten. However it looks like Olympic archery does not allow a compound bow. I guess every sport decides if they want innovation or not.

Swimming rules have also been progressively eased to help keep the records falling. Flip turns in backstroke. Relay dives. More aggressive dive blocks. The new breaststroke kick. Lots of little thing mean constant trend, constant records dropping.

Re: Embarrassed by your Olympic javelin: did cavemen do it better? (2012)

#18

Post by 838812052807016 »

> Best Ever?

> Lots of athletes come to the Olympics hoping to be the Best Ever. But not javelin throwers. They've been told to dream smaller dreams ("Best Since 1984!") and I think that's a bum deal.

> Why not take this event away from crowded arenas, go someplace safe, design the best flying spear possible, throw it as far as you can, and then whoever breaks the record can say to all spear throwers going back over the ages, "Now I'm Number One, in the truest sense — mine flew further than all of yours!

> That would be true Gold.

Maybe the best design would use a rail-gun as a booster.

And if the goal is to make it go as far as possible, you might want to consider throwing it outside the atmosphere.

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