“WOW! THAT GUY IS HELLA FAST”, “NO WAY HE CAN RUN THAT FAST”,”WHAT DOES THIS DUDE EVEN EAT”,”100 METRES IN 9.58 SECONDS!”. Are you still clueless who I’m talking about? Yeap, it is Usain Bolt who is considered the greatest sprinter of all time. He set the current 100m world record at the 2009 IAAF World Championships which he completed in a mere 9.58 seconds. The man ran so fast that he took a solid 15 seconds to bring his momentum to rest. Geez, I’m exaggerating or am I?
Now why are we talking about Usain? Did I forget my topic? Is this another clickbait? WAIT hold up… yes I remember now. Phew. Have you ever wondered what makes him this fast? PRACTICE? I mean duhh. Try again. A good gene? Not quite.
A solid diet? Dedication? Hardwork? blah blah blah…. I mean yes! Definitely! But is there something more to it? A good coach? Don’t get me started again.
Okay.. let me give you a question. Let’s see what you think about it. There are two athletes who are competing each other in a 100m hurdle. Mr. A had an apple before the race and Mr. B had a banana. Now who wins? I’m gonna pick Mr. B because I hate apple(It tastes bleh) . Unfortunately, Mr. B lost . So now why did he lose? Does that mean apple make you dash against the wind at 100 miles per hour. Definitely not! Apple sucks! What I’m trying to say is that there is something that we all miss that we all fail to see. Why do sprinters wear spiked shoes? Why do footballers have studded cleats?
Try to jump with casual shoes on and then try to jump with some jump enhancing sprint assisted shoes? You will jump higher! Yes, the natural ability of a person can make him jump higher but most of the times the assistance of a good gear can take you to the top. Does all of this scream “Science” to you?. This is known as Sports Science. It is a discipline that studies how a human body reacts to exercise, what makes an individual perform better etc. Within all the areas of Sports Science, Computer Science is used regularly to design new technologies that allow scientists to retrieve important data needed to analyze and interpret the players.
Computer Science is basically used to determine how the body reacts when different gears are used in different environments and then scientists use this data to improve the gear quality for an athlete. This is the X factor that we all fail to see sometimes. It’s amazing how much inroads science has made in our lives and how much it transforms each one of our lives every single day. Computer Science in sports is definitely one of the most exciting and fast moving disciplines in all of sports science. Undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in Sports Science are now growing all throughout the world and it might just be the career option you’ve been looking for- be it a computer geek or simply a person who is interested in sports with some handy computer knowledge. It’s never too late to start.(Apple is healthy by the way but it doesn’t change the fact that it tastes bleh).

Computer Science is so fascinating, that it has so much more to offer the world and it’s people beyond desk jobs. There are multiple areas and aspects of it that are still less known to people. Let’s discover, engage, innovate and use Computer Science to change the world in a positive way.

Written by : JINO ROHIT 19BCS075