There are still two years before the Summer Olympics in Paris, so we have time to improve our competence in athletics. If you watch any race in a closed area (arena or stadium), you will find that all athletes are moving counterclockwise. Why this happens and what does the structural features of a person have to do with it, you will learn in this article.
Even the athletes themselves rarely think about the direction of movement. As soon as a novice runner comes to practice, he simply adjusts to the rest of the overall race. Running counterclockwise is an international standard that was defined many years ago. But who defined it?
1. official wording
The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) standards state: “In cross-country sports where there is at least one turn (i.e. turn), the direction of running / walking becomes left-sided. That is, the athletes run in the direction opposite to the movement of the clock.”
Skaters also move from left to right, as do participants in motorcycle races and horse races. But in any situation there is always some feature: for example, Formula-1 cars can go in a different direction.
2. What history says
At the very first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and up to 1912, athletes ran clockwise. But athletes constantly complained about the inconvenience. And already in 1913, the supreme body of the Olympic movement - the International Olympic Committee decided: now the movement of athletes to the finish line should be counterclockwise.
This rule change is partly based on a call to tradition. The image of a sundial for the ancient Greeks was equal to the natural cycle, its embodiment. If you run to the left, it means that you recognize your power and are ready to go against nature. But this is just a beautiful prelude. Modern man is used to relying on scientific facts.
3. scientific arguments
One of the real explanations for the direction of the athletes is related to the fact that most of them have the leading leg - the right, so it is more convenient for them to take an amplitude step to the left side. Often, due to the fact that the right side is better developed, the right arm/leg may be slightly longer (we are talking about a few millimeters).
Also, some experts note that it is more convenient for athletes to turn to the left, due to the weight advantage of the left side of the body over the right, because. there is the heart. Another physiological explanation is the direction of blood flow through the veins: from left to right. If you run counterclockwise, then in the process, due to centrifugal force, the blood will circulate faster. And if you change the direction of the run, then the speed of blood movement will decrease.
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If in considering this issue to apply knowledge in the field of physics, then here we should recall angular velocity vector: movement to the left, the vector is directed upwards, i.e. athlete runs without resistance. If the movement is in the opposite direction, then the vector will go down and it will be harder for the athlete to run.
4. The difference for the viewer
Spectators are more accustomed and more comfortable to watch the competitions from left to right as well. it is to such a trajectory that our eyes are accustomed from childhood. For example, who remembers which way the characters moved in 8-bit games? That's right: right and up! Reading from left to right can also be found in the list of explanations for "habitual direction" for viewers, but this theory falls apart when we talk about languages where people read from right to left or from top to bottom.
Many theories and explanations do not allow us to formulate a specific answer to this question. But, one way or another, first we turn to the exact sciences, and only then to conjectures and legends.
We will leave heavy sports to the elect, but you can tighten your body for the beach season with the help of exercises from the material 5 home exercises for the press, which allow you to achieve quick results
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/120622/63264/