Last update on. From the section OlympicsTokyo Olympic Games on BBC Dates: 23 Jul-8 Aug Time in Tokyo: BST+8. Listen live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer and BBC Red Button; Listen live on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra, and Sounds; Live text and video clips available on BBC Sport app and website.Numbers should not clash. Combinations of numbers shouldn't be confusing.They say, "Red and green are never seen." They don't warn you that on Tuesday afternoons in Tokyo, four or five people will check if you are still alive.This was Karsten Warholm's reaction as he crossed the finish line in the final 400m hurdles.The world record holder for Norway, the Norwegian entered the race as the holder. He shaved eight hundredths from the track's longest-standing mark five weeks ago, bringing Kevin Young's 29 year-old record down to 46.70 seconds.He buried his face in his hands that day. He didn't dare this time.Warholm's eyes were wide open in shock, and he kept looking at the clock in fear of an error. He was still in his cardboard bed in the athletes’ village, but he was not able to see the time.It remained and stood.45.94These figures are so shocking and stark that they almost required to be written in full in brackets, vidiprinter style, to be believed.Three quarters of a second faster than any other man who ran the distance.Steve Cram, commentator on the Warholm incident, shouted "Times you cannot only imagine, only dream about," as Warholm tore apart his vest in celebration.Some numbers resound all over the world, but also in history.The majority of world records are only marginal gains. It is possible to lose a few centimetres or a handful hundredths of an inch. Many years of training have paid off with an improvement of a pipette's value.Others have a greater scale, and seem to be from another universe entirely.The 1968 Olympics saw the men's long-jump record for men improve by 3cm 2, 2cm and 1cm in the past few years.Mexico 1968 world record by Beamon required an old-fashioned tape measurement, as it was beyond the reach of the optical measuring instrument.Bob Beamon then flew through thin Mexico air beyond the range of an electronic measuring device, and reached an unheard-of 8.90m. He was 55 cm further.With a 9.58 second sprint, Usain Bolt broke the 100m world record in Berlin, 2009.Atlanta 1996: Michael Johnson scored an incredible third of a second at the 200m mark.Ato Bolden, third from the rear, summarised the incomprehensible sight."19.32!" He exclaimed. He exclaimed, "That's not the time. It sounds like my father's birthday."Warholm made a similar quantum leap in the plausible and credible.His time was so far from precedent and expectation that you had to go looking for context immediately afterward.When you looked at the competition, American Rai Benjamin was a good few metres behind Warholm but still half a second within the old world record.You looked at the points tables, World Athletics' guide to comparing performances across events, and saw it equated to a three-minute-39-second mile.Imagine Elaine Thompson-Herah, 100m gold medallist, had run 10.32 seconds instead of 10.61 on Saturday night.It looked strange and alien from every angle. For some, it was a good reason.Technology has changed on the feet of athletes.Although Warholm's spikes don't contain resilient, responsive foam like others, they are stiffened with a carbon plate which returns energy to older generations.Bolt's 100m world-record was set in Berlin 12 years ago and will not be beaten anytime soon.The Mondo track surface has been tuned and tuned for Tokyo. It is now softer, faster, and bouncier than ever.Some people, when they are combined, distort history beyond recognition.They see us entering an era similar to that of a little more than a decade ago when the skin suit was dominant over swimming.Full-length Nasa spacewear was banned in the early days of the sport. The governing body finally bolted the stable doors.World Athletics has ruled on shoes. It set limits on the sole depth and number of carbon plates in January 2020. This was rather than bang them outright.The postponement of Tokyo 2020 then allowed rivals to close their gap on pioneers Nike, levelling out the playing field to some degree.It will be a while before we can determine if this is a watershed. It is not clear if historical trends are really in flux.Warholm, however, is a talent that shines in the fog of technology wars.His performance was as shocking and amazing as Bolt and Beamon's, despite all the quirks.His time, despite any caveats your brain may require, sent a visceral thrill through the spine, Tokyo and Japan.
