For many years now, Lance Armstrong has been known throughout the world as a genetic freak; a born and nurtured superhuman, a god among men. His dominant performance in the biking world is known the world round; and I think it's safe to say that if it wasn't for Lance Armstrong, millions (more) of Americans would think the Tour de France was a tourism company through the historic country.
"Mr. Armstrong, for example, can maintain a power output of about 6.8 watts per kilogram of body weight for 20 minutes. "I would say there are probably no more than 20 people on earth with that ability, and probably at least 10 of them rode or are riding in the Tour de France," Dr. Coyle said."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/weekinreview/24kola.htmlimes.com/2005/07/24/weekinreview/24kola.html
Using several different tests, at several different clinical atmospheres, Lance Armstrong is a beast among his peers, but i'd like to compare his statistics to that of the other top athletes at their sports.
Dean Karnazes, http://www.tosports.ca/?p=4383, this man is sick. I dare you to read the article, cause you'll get to the end and feel like Lance Armstrong and Steve Prefontaine are/were lazy bums. He has run for 350 consecutive miles before without a break, ran the North Face endurance run (50 marathons [26.2 miles] in 50 days), has run 148 miles in 24 hours, 135 miles across a desert in California (6 times), hell, this guy had even biked across the grand canyon, and climbed to the highest peak in the continental United States...when he was 11. The aerobic endurance of this athlete may be among the highest ever seen or recorded during our time.
Michael Phelps, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Phelps, current world records: 8 gold medals in one olympics, 37 world records in swimming, 5 time World Swimmer of the Year, 7 time American Swimmer of the Year. Phelps competed in his first Olympic games when he was a freshman...freshman in high school. At 15 yea
rs and 9 months old, Michael became the youngest man, or boy, to break a swimming world record. Most contribute his success to his body composition; "A few physical attributes particularly suit Phelps to swimming: his long, thin torso offers low drag; his arms span 6 feet 7 inches (201 cm)—disproportionate to his height of 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm)—and act as long, propulsive "paddles"; his relatively short legs lower drag, and perhaps add the speed enhancement of a hydrofoil; his size 14 feet provide the effect of flippers; and his hypermobile ankles he can extend beyond the pointe of a ballet dancer, enabling him to whip his feet as if they were fins for maximum thrust through the water."
rs and 9 months old, Michael became the youngest man, or boy, to break a swimming world record. Most contribute his success to his body composition; "A few physical attributes particularly suit Phelps to swimming: his long, thin torso offers low drag; his arms span 6 feet 7 inches (201 cm)—disproportionate to his height of 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm)—and act as long, propulsive "paddles"; his relatively short legs lower drag, and perhaps add the speed enhancement of a hydrofoil; his size 14 feet provide the effect of flippers; and his hypermobile ankles he can extend beyond the pointe of a ballet dancer, enabling him to whip his feet as if they were fins for maximum thrust through the water."Just crazy, double jointed, huge feet, short legs, long armspan... seems like god must have spent, a little more time, on Michael Phelps.
Kenenisa Bekele, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenenisa_Bekele, world record holder in two of the hardest, most prestigious olympic events. Has never...never been beaten at any race over 10k kilometers. Won both the 5k, and 10k at the 2009 World Track Championships, making him the first ever to win both events in the same championships; an amazing feat considering the finals for the races are run ON THE SAME DAY!
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