If we compared average modern humans against average well fed and educated ones from 200 years ago would that still hold up? I suspect the average college educated human from 1800 would obliterate the average college educated human from 2026.
I'd personally count nutrition squarely in the second category
Here's the producer of the hydrogels talking about the exact process of getting the maximum carbohydrates into the runner:
https://maurten.no/blogs/m-magazine/how-sabastian-sawe-fuele...
> At the elite level, marathon performance is defined by energy availability as much as physiology.
> Maintaining a pace of 2:50 per kilometer requires a constant supply of fuel. Even small disruptions in energy delivery can result in significant time loss.
in 20th century most of the world moved past famine and toxins - did any factor of similar scale happen in 21st century as well to start looking for opposite processes?
It is fairly well agreed upon that American kids across the nation are currently testing lower than they were in 2010.