Reveal About Usain Bolt's Stride Upends Sprinting Science

You'd think a smooth, even gait would ensure the fastest running speeds for elite athletes—but researchers who studied the world's fastest man have found that, at least in his case, symmetry doesn't matter. 

Per the New York Times, scientists from Southern Methodist University in Dallas released a study that examined the stride of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, and they discovered that Bolt's right leg slams down on the track with a peak force that's 13% more than that of his left leg, while his left leg stays down on the ground 14% longer than the right—a find that runs counter to what the limited data on sprinting biomechanics seems to suggest. 

This physical anomaly has led to what Peter Weyand, the director of the SMU lab, deems "the million-dollar question": If Bolt had adopted a more even stride in his peak running years, would he have been even faster?

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