Usain Bolt’s Split Times and the Power of Calculus

The following graph shows the elapsed times at which Bolt crossed 10 meters, 20 meters, 30 meters, and so on, up to the 9.69 seconds it took him to cross the finish line at the 100-meter mark. It indicates that Bolt reached a top speed of around 12.3 meters per second (27.5 miles per hour) at about the three-quarter point in the race. In Usain Bolt’s speed data, the wiggles took a smooth trend and made it look as bushy as a pipe cleaner.

Source: www.quantamagazine.org