449 Leg Length Discrepancy (1/2)
Eugene is located in the State of Oregon in the US. The place has a unique nickname, the Tracktown. The best track and field coaches, as well as the best track and field athletes, were born there. It was also the birthplace of the world's largest sports brand, Nike, and even the Diamond League of the IAAF specifically set up a race in Eugene.
As the city of track and field, the number of races held each year in Eugene was always the highest in the US. These races include world-class races such as the Diamond League of the IAAF as well as amateur competitions organized for sports enthusiasts.
Today, the competition organized in Eugene was a small track and field competition. Every event of the competition was a track race, and there were only four. The 100m, 400m, 1500m, and the 5000m. Adding the male and female races together, there was a total of eight races.
It was also Justin Alexander's first race after his comeback!
...
Oregon was north of California, not far from Los Angeles, so Dai Li followed Alexander to arrive at Eugene.
”This competition doesn't seem very big. Why did you choose this place as your first race after coming back?” Dai Li asked, slightly puzzled.
”I was criticized a lot for using performance enhancers, and it could even be said that I was universally condemned. I didn't want my first comeback race to be stressful or high profile. That is why I chose this sort of competition.”
Alexander paused briefly before continuing with his explanation, ”Don't look down on the competition just because it doesn't have a huge scale; a lot of strong competitors take part as well. This is, after all, Eugene. The only thing that Eugene doesn't lack is track and field experts. So even if the scale of the competition isn't big, the competition atmosphere is still pretty good. I can also find a feel for the race here. You should know, it's been four years since I participated in any race. I've almost forgotten the feel of competitions already.”
As soon as Alexander finished his sentence, he lowered his voice and said, ”There is another reason. The organizer of this competition promised to give me a 20,000 dollar appearance fee.”
Dai Li smiled in good faith. In truth, Dai Li knew that when Alexander was at his peak, his appearance fee was ten times that. It was only after the suspension that Alexander's value dropped so much. It was fortunate that Kittel had retired. Alexander had a massive opportunity to become the fastest man in the world, and once he obtained that title, recovering his previous value wouldn't be difficult.
Alexander then continued, ”I have to run three races today; the preliminaries at 11 o'clock, the semi-finals at half past two, and the final at six o'clock. It's been a while since I ran three races in a day… Eh? Isn't that Shawn Ford? He's also here for this competition.”
Following Alexander's gaze, Dai Li saw a black man with a mustache.
”Shawn Ford. I remember him. He was the World Championship winner for the 200m sprint. But I haven't heard of him since.” Dai Li only remembered this man after hearing his name.
Alexander nodded. ”Yup, that's him. He won the world championship for the 200m sprint in a dramatic way. He was initially placed fourth in the trials and had no chance of joining the world championship, but one of the contestants got injured, so he replaced him and participated, and ended up as the champion. After that, he never reached the same kind of result ever again. It was even hard for him to qualify for the US domestic trial competitions.”
”Why? A person who could win the world championship shouldn't be that weak. Were his opponents weak during that world championship?” Dai Li asked.
”How could the opponents of the world championship be weak! Actually, Shawn Ford's time when he won the championship was perfect. He finished in 20 seconds, but no one would have thought that the result was his peak. A lot of people felt that his championship was obtained due to extraordinary form, or said that he used something he shouldn't have used. His actual ability could never reach the level of a world champion,” Alexander explained.
”There aren't any 200m sprints today. Looks like he's entering the 100m sprint. He's going to be your opponent in the race.” Dai Li used the motion detector on Shawn Ford as he spoke. Later, when Dai Li saw the result of the detection, his expression relaxed.
”You don't have to worry about him, he can't beat you,” Dai Li said.
Shawn Ford had the talent potential grade of A+ in sprinting, but his personal ability value only just passed the 700 mark. Such a level was sufficient for one to represent a nation in Asia. However, in a country like the US with tons of track and field talents everywhere, in a popular event like the 100m sprint, a personal ability value of around 700 was perhaps sufficient for the preliminaries of the domestic trials of the US. Qualifying for the semi-finals was a difficult task. A level like that wasn't enough to pose a threat to Alexander.
Dai Li continued reviewing the results of Shawn Ford's detection, and parts of the description made Dai Li fairly happy.
A talent potential of grade A+, easily a world champion level, but he actually has a defect on his body. Congenital scoliosis. It makes his right leg shorter than his left leg by not more than half an inch. This sort of leg length discrepancy won't affect a person's daily life, but for a sprinter, it's not good news.
There are many causes for leg length discrepancy, such as a traumatic fracture, polio, or nerve damage that leads to the uneven growth of both the legs. Medically speaking, treatments for leg length discrepancy are much more conservative, and include the use of an insole, custom-made shoes, and long-term rehabilitative sports treatment among other things. Few people would use surgery as a treatment method.
For an adult of average height, a one-centimeter leg length discrepancy could not be determined from the outside, and the life of the person would not really be affected. At most, the knee wear of a particular leg would be more than the other, and there would be a higher chance of getting osteoarthritis. For example, some people liked to cross their legs, which could lead to the dislocation of the hip joint, which is likely to cause a one-centimeter leg length discrepancy.
However, for a sprinter, a leg length discrepancy is a fatal shortcoming. Leg length discrepancy would result in an uneven force distribution with the legs, and the time it takes for the feet to touch the ground would also be different, the width of each step was different, and the rhythm of the steps were also unbalanced. There was a 100% chance that it would reduce the speed of the sprinter.