How the Olympics Warp Time

Mind-Bending Olympic Games: Tiny Increments Define Athletes’ Success #

The Olympic Games present a mind-bending puzzle for athletes, as success or failure is determined by cruelly small time increments. American sprinter Noah Lyles won the men’s 100-meter dash by a minuscule margin of 0.005 of a second. In contrast, finishing just a blink of an eye slower would have resulted in seventh place. Such fine-grained measurements highlight the importance of speed in competition. Minutes can be broken down into infinitely small fractions, making it challenging for the human brain to comprehend. In the 200-meter race, Kenny Bednarek of the United States won silver, falling short of gold by a mere 0.16 of a second.