How High Could the Fastest Man Jump?
Hook:
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The greatest vaulters in history run x% faster than their competition.
Mondo Duplantis, 2-time Olympic gold medalist, world record holder, jumps x% higher.
Yelena Isinbayeva, 2-time Olympic champion, world record holder, jumps y% higher.
The relationship is clear: more speed makes a better vaulter.
But what if I told you there is a mathematical equation that governs vault height?
And… using this equation, let’s calculate just how high the fastest man ever could pole vault.
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How do you become the greatest of all time?
What do you need to do to break the world record?
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Think of an elite pole vaulter.
What attributes do they have that made them successful?
Is it height?
Strength?
Raw athleticism?
(pause)
You probably have in your head a very specific physical profile.
But what if I told you that this one variable dominates all others when explaining vault performance?
And it might not be the one you expect.
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Start of body:
(Mondo Duplantis footage at the olympics with announcers talking about his attributes)
Witness: The Greatest of All Time: Mondo Duplantis
What makes him so special?
He’s not the tallest in the field.
He’s not the strongest in the weight room.
And at the first glance of the lineup, several other athletes appear to outmuscle him.
(Lineup, show Guttormsen, Nilsen, Lisek, big muscular vaulters)
So what exactly makes him so much better than everyone else?
The answer: Mondo is fast. Really fast.
Sergey Bubka swings in more of a giant swing, making for a powerful invert but loss of potential in bending the pole.
Whereas Lavillenie and Mondo swing into the bend of the pole, loading a massive amount into it, and leaving the invert to be done with muscle strength (tuck and shoot).
Start here:
(whiteboard scripting)
KE = 1/2 * m * v^2
PE = m * g * h = KE *F
h = 1/2 * v^2 * F / g
From this equation, height is proportional to the square of velocity.
But we know this is not true, due to this study.
Height is really linearly proportional to velocity.
The math is simple: more speed, more kinetic energy
Alright so let’s answer this question: if the fastest man in the history of the world had perfect pole vault technique
