Algebra II
Linear Regression Project
Will Women ever be Faster than Men
In the 100 m Dash?
Every four years the summer Olympics occur. This summer we have
enjoyed monumental moments as world records were broken from the lap
lanes
of the swimming pool to around the lanes on the track. Michael Phelps won
an
incredible 8 gold medals breaking Mark Spitz record of 7 in a single
Olympics’ games! And Phelps did it while breaking 6 world records. On the track, Usain Bolt smashed the
100 meter dash by 3 tenths of second. A few days later he broke United States’ Michael Johnson’s 200 m
dash by 2 tenths of a second. And he did it running into a head wind!!
Men and women continue to get faster and faster, in the water and on land. From this, questions begin to
stir…
∑
Will records always be broken, or will humankind level off?
∑
Will women ever turn the corner quicker and become faster than men?
This project explores this possibility through linear regression.
The current men’s world record in the 100 meter dash is held by Usain Bolt from
Jamaica. He ran it in 9.69 seconds with ease, breaking the old record by .03
seconds. In doing this in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he also holds the Olympic
record. For women, the current world and Olympic record in the dash is held by Florence Griffith-Joyner,
who clocked in 10.49 seconds at the Seoul, South Korea Olympics in 1988. These records are only .80
seconds apart from each other. The question to ponder is this gap closing, and will the women ever surpass
the men in the race?
The data on the back of this page shows the winning times for both the men and the women in the
100 meter dash for every Olympics it was ran since 1900.
1. Plot both the men’s and women’s times on the SAME graph paper. Make sure you title your graph, label
the axes after choosing good scales, and color coordinate the data.
2. Using a graphing calculator, find the line of best fit for both the men and women. Round your values to
the nearest thousandth. Sketch both lines on your graph. Let t = 0 represent the year 1900.
3. Find the intersection of the two linear equations using an algebraic method. What does this point
signify? SHOW YOUR WORK.
4. Does linear regression make sense? Does it seem plausible and realistic? Explain if you think there is a
better model? What factors help men and women break these records? How far can we accurately predict
using models? Discuss and write about these types of questions.
5. Can you explain the years where no data is recorded? Why do the women’s times start only in 1928?
How come there is no data for either 1940 or 1944? What happened in 1916, that there is no men’s data
either?
Algebra II
Linear Regression Project
Will Women ever be Faster than Men
In the 100 m Dash?
Men and Women’s Winning Times in the 100 m Dash during the Olympics
Olympic
year
Men's winning
time (s)
Women's winning
time (s)
1900
11.00
---- 1904
11.00
----
1908
10.80
----
1912
10.80
----
1916
----
----
1920
10.80
----
1924
10.60
----
1928
10.80
12.20
1932
10.30
11.90
1936
10.30
11.50
1940
----
----
1944
----
----
1948
10.30
11.90
1952
10.40
11.50
1956
10.50
11.50
1960
10.20
11.00
1964
10.00
11.40
1968
9.95
11.08
1972
10.14
11.07
1976
10.06
11.08
1980
10.25
11.06
1984
9.99
10.97
1988
9.92
10.54
1992
9.96
10.82
1996
9.84
10.94
2000
2004
2008
9.87
9.85
9.69
10.75
10.93
10.78
Table S1. Winning times of the men’s and women’s Olympic 100-metre sprints from 1900. Source: Rendell,
M. (ed.) The Olympics; Athens to Athens 1896–2004 338–340 (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 2003).
6. Now find a different event where men and women compete in. Gather all the data from the first time
they competed and follow the previous 5 steps. You may choose events from the Winter Olympics as well.