Something that I have often wondered about
is how Nordic skiers of the olden days, big names like America's Bill Koch,
Sweden's Thomas Wassberg or Gunde Svan, Norway's Bjorn Daehlie or Thomas
Alsgaard (to consider some of the great men) would fare against today's top
competitors. Considering every little change that has taken place with
technique, the ever-evolving artillery of wax, the lighter, faster, more
aerodynamic equipment and race suits, all of the ways that heart rates,
VO2-Max, and every other physiological component can be tested and analyzed for
higher performing athletes, the athletes of yore are seemingly at a
disadvantage. And yet I watch clips like THIS ONE.
http://tinyurl.com/qzc9gzr
and wonder, all things being equal, who
would really come out on top? What if Bjorn Daehlie was to race Petter Northug
on a pair of Fischer Speedmax? What if Thomas Alsgaard were to face off against
Martin Sundby equipped with a pair of triac 2.0 Carbon Composite poles?
Could Koch win a sprint against Hamilton or Newell if he traded up for a pair
of Rossignol X-ium's? What if a World Cup race were simulated like the above
clip? How much can we account for wax, snow conditions, lightness of equipment,
improvements in general course conditions like track setting? That would be
another simulation I'd like to see happen and will work on figuring out!
(American Bill
Koch. Check out the size of those tips!)
If anyone else has thoughts or some sort
of elaborate equation made up to calculate or account for any of these
variables a comment would be cool.
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