Free Republic

A Chinese humanoid robot set a new 100-meter sprint record of 8.86 seconds in Beijing on Tuesday (Aug 25), beating its robot competitors — and the fastest recorded human time. The race was part of China's World Humanoid Robot Games, an Olympic-style competition now in its second year in Beijing. The event is also a showcase for China's rapid advances in robotics amid an intensifying technology rivalry with the US The previous robot record of 9.39 seconds had been set just three days earlier, on Saturday. For comparison, the men's 100-meter world record is 9.58 seconds, set by Jamaican sprinter...

You’ll want to be ready if you find yourself on the receiving end of a Kate Hall medicine ball toss. I wasn’t. During a midday early May workout, Hall recruited me to catch her throws and roll the ball back to her. I moved to the middle of the infield at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland, Maine. From just inside the track, Hall sprang forward and heaved the 8-pound ball. Next thing I knew, the ball landed just in front of me, bounced, and crashed into my chest. It left a red mark on my sternum that lingered for a week....

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Andraya Yearwood hears the comments, usually from adults and usually not to her face. She shouldn’t be running, they say, not against girls. Yearwood, a 17-year-old junior at Cromwell High School, is one of two transgender high school sprinters in Connecticut, transitioning to female. She recently finished second in the 55-meter dash at the state open indoor track championships. The winner, Terry Miller of Bloomfield High, is also transgender...

Jamaican Me Speedy - Why are Jamaicans so good at sprinting? By Nina Shen Rastogi Posted Monday, Aug. 18, 2008, at 6:57 PM ET Jamaicans dominated the Olympic 100-meter sprint this weekend, with Usain Bolt setting a world record and his teammates taking all three medals in the women's event. Jamaica is a poor, tiny nation about half the size of New Jersey. What makes its people such champion sprinters? A combination of nature and nurture. Runners of West African descent—which includes Jamaicans as well as most African-Americans—seem to be built for speed: In 2004, they held all but five...