Runners have long been invoking science to try to figure out how to run faster. Physiologists analyze videos in search of the most efficient stride. Psychologists help athletes stay calm and focused. Trainers tinker with diets and social discipline. If wind at the runners' backs blows faster than 2 meters per second, record-breaking runs aren't officially counted.
High altitudes can also boost a runner's performance.
With less air at higher elevations, it takes less wind to push a runner forward, said Mr. Mureika, a graduate student at the University of Toronto in Ontario. Wind and altitude together can make conditions unfair when it comes to comparing record times, he said. In the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, for example, runners shattered world records. Women set world records in the 100 and 200, the 4x100-meter relay, the long jump, and the shot put. Olympic records were set or tied in all the other women's running events, and many of the men's.