English articles
Why have sports world records been broken several times over recent decades? Did athletes really get faster and what are they doing to improve? Records in classical disciplines like sprinting, marathon or freestyle swimming, displayed strong increases from the 40ies to the 70ies and are still rising until now. A major part of this improvement of athletes’ performance can be attributed to better equipment, technological progress and advances in sports science: Elastic floor coverings, better running shoes and knowledge of muscle physiology enabled athletes to train more efficient and run faster. Beyond that, today’s athletes follow specific diets, get mental coaching and have physiotherapists to function perfectly. However, they are always hunting for novel ways to pimp their skills. Training the brain with electric stimulation recently showed up as potential – still legal – approach to improve performance and has been used by several athletes during their preparation for the current Olympic Games 2016 in Rio, Brazil.
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