100 metres in 9 seconds? Usain Bolt’s record may fall thanks to Hongkonger’s innovation
Times could soon be 20 per cent quicker, according to entrepreneur Alvina Chen, whose company has made ‘world’s fastest running surface’
No one has bettered Usain Bolt’s 100 metres world record of 9.58 seconds since he clocked it 16 years ago, but that could change if an athlete-turned-entrepreneur from Hong Kong has her way.
Groundbreaking speeds could be just around the corner, if a high-performance running track developed by Feldspar Sport – a UK-based technology company founded by Hongkonger Alvina Chen – is accepted for use by governing body World Athletics.
Months on from what was said to be the fastest track yet being used at the Paris Olympics, Feldspar is getting ready to launch one Chen claims could see the world’s fastest 100m sprinters dip below the nine-second mark.
The company is developing a track that has a rubber and composite top surface instead of just rubber, and boasts energy loss of less than 10 per cent when athletes run on it – compared with roughly 30 per cent on traditional track surfaces.
“Increasing track compliance, track energy return and altering the direction of energy return are three ways to improve the speed of a track,” said Chen, the mastermind behind what is touted as the world’s first smart running track.