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News16 Feb 2012


Phenomenology of Sprinting and Endurance: Toward a Uniform Performance Assessment Model

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According to the IAAF scoring tables, Usain Bolt’s 100m world record of 9.58 sec is worth 1374 points, whereas Kenenisa Bekele’s 10,000m world record of 26:17.59 yields only 1295 points. This suggests a weakness in the current scoring methodology.


This paper studies the relationship between running distance and running speed, and proposes an alternative scoring method. Firstly it presents the personal predictor model (PPM). This model uses two personal bests of an athlete for calibration, and then it allows predicting an athlete’s hypothetical personal bests for any other distance. The accuracy is well below 1% and it thereby greatly outperforms existing models. Secondly, it presents the normalised multi-event scoring model (NMSM).


This model addresses the suggested anomalies in the current scoring tables; it demonstrates greater fairness, consistency and transparency. The impact of the new model is explained using empirical data. It substantiates the need for reviewing the existing IAAF scoring tables. Although combining the PPM and NMSM to derive a generic scoring formula that would cover any distance and any performance was not feasible for official use, a personalised scoring table using the two for converting individual performances at various distances into a unified personal score is presented.


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