At the time of writing, just as the Sydney 2000 Olympics is beginning, neither men's nor women's best times have reached those predicted by Whipp and Ward.
Men remain appreciably quicker than women.
It would appear that the rates of improvement might be slowing. Banned substances aside, the past decade has seen advances in our understanding of the factors that influence athletic performance and, ultimately, the setting of new world records. This has undoubtedly contributed to improvements and will continue to shape the progression of world records in years to come. In the 1990s attention shifted to subtler interventions based on a growing understanding of the physiology of exercise and fatigue. So, for some athletes, creatine is a safe, legal, and effective ergogenic aid.