Super technology can help runners conquer the 2-hour barrier

Eliud Kipchoge won the Berlin Marathon on September 25 with a time of 2 hours 1 minute 9 seconds, setting a world record. This achievement means that Kenya's 1984-born runner has not been able to conquer the 2-hour barrier (sub2) in an official marathon - a milestone considered impossible for humans.

In fact, Kipchoge is currently the only person in the world to run a sub2 marathon but with controlled ambient conditions, such as no competition, guided by laser projectors and rotating team of pacers. Therefore, Kipchoge's achievement of 1 hour 59 minutes 40.2 seconds in Vienna, Austria, October 2019 is not recognized as a world record.

Frank Diana is a researcher at the information technology company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) - the sponsor of the two London and New York City Marathon races. This expert has just come up with some super-technological ideas that help remove Kipchoge's 69 seconds of "excess".

Accordingly, future competition clothing could be made from advanced materials, capable of automatically adjusting body temperature and weather conditions to create the optimal temperature for the wearer. Eyeglasses or contact lenses will soon be able to display important parameters such as wind conditions or how athletes are physically, providing more basis for them to decide whether to increase or decrease speed.

Nutrition before and during the race can involve 3D printers, providing the most suitable food mix based on real-time data. This data will be sent from nanobots living in the blood vessels, stomach and other organs in the athlete's body to monitor health at the molecular level.

"We're likely to see the lines between technology and athletes fade away. External bones, implants, artificial body parts or human-machine convergence can change athletes and so change the sport," said Diana.

According to Diana, the question now is whether sports regulations can adapt quickly enough to allow or ban these advanced technologies.