Finger Length Holds Key to Running Skill

Qualifying standards may be too soft for fairer sex

(NEWSER) - Registration for the Boston Marathon opens up Monday, and if you’re interested, you’d better sign up quick. All 21,000 available slots are expected to fill up within a matter of days—which might, for the first time, leave the New York City Marathon meaningless as a qualifier, the Wall Street Journal reports. Part of the reason: It’s too easy for women to qualify. The qualifying times for women are 30 minutes slower than for men. More»

Says her human rights have been violated

(NEWSER) - Tired of waiting around for the results of the IAAF tests that will determine her eligibility to compete as a woman, Caster Semenya is returning to competition, and she's angry. The South African runner said yesterday that investigations following her 800m win at last summer's World Athletic Championships have "infringed on not only my rights as an athlete but also my fundamental and human rights including my rights to dignity and privacy," the Guardian reports. More»

Pace would be faster than Bolt, slower than a lion

(NEWSER) - New research suggests that human beings are biologically capable of running close to 40 miles an hour, a pace that's approximately 12mph faster than Usain Bolt and just 10mph slower than a lion. A man able to run at this speed would cross the finish line of 100 meters as Bolt dawdled at the 60-meter mark, the Telegraph reports. The calculation is based on an assessment of how quickly the muscle fibers themselves can contract. More»

(NEWSER) - Women may be more “selective” daters, but that distinction could well be based not on innate personality but on social norms and the simple prospect of which gender is doing the pursuing. A new study had subjects participate in a few rounds of speed dating. When the males approached the females, the men reported more enthusiasm about their partners—i.e., they were less selective. But when the guys sat down and the women made the rounds, the opposite was true, reports LiveScience. More»

(NEWSER) - Pre-race World Championship blood tests on super South African runner Caster Semenya revealed testosterone levels three times typical female rates, a source tells the Telegraph. The results of the tests, carried out in South Africa, contributed to a decision by sports officials to call for "gender verification" tests on the 18-year-old gold medalist. It was also revealed that the head coach of Semenya's team is controversial Dr. Ekkart Arbeit. More»