Originally Posted by topflightpro

Thinking about the original question some more: Does it even matter?

What practical impact would there be if 4/5 racers were faster now than 4-5 years ago. At the top levels of sport, times are continually going down, which says people are getting stronger/faster/better. I don't attribute all of that to equipment because even runners are getting faster, though there is some discussion that we are approaching the limit at which a human can run 100m.

If everyone is getting faster, that doesn't change the calculus for racing. You still have to go faster than everyone else at the end.