A large variety of sports is represented by Texas and DFW athletes, but the biggest superstar from Big D makes her money on the track. Sha’Carri Richardson from South Dallas, a David W. Carter High School graduate, is looking to bring home gold in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay. After winning gold in both the 100-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay for Team USA at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, she’s the heavy favorite to finish first again in the 100-meter dash in Paris.
She sounds pretty fast, right? Well, she is (duh). In fact, Richardson is so fast that some scientists say that she could even run on water.
In a Physics World Article, Dr. Nicole Sharp examines the physics behind running on water and whether humans could do it. There were scientific explanations from people a lot smarter than us in this study, so we'll sum it up briefly. A human running on water would have to generate enough speed to step into water and remove their foot before the small air cavity created by that foot in the water refills. They then would have to do that repeatedly, moving forward, while balancing on an uneven liquid surface.
So, basically, it’s impossible.
Can Humans Run on Water?
In a 2012 study, a physiologist at the University of Milan, Alberto Minetti, strapped people into a harness holding them above a small pool and made them “run” on water while elevated. This elevation was equivalent to 10% of the earth’s gravity, which allowed every participant to indeed run on water.Unfortunately, we have too much gravity on Earth to run on water, but there is a mass in our solar system where this might work.
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, has bodies of water comparable to ours and has 14% of Earth’s gravity. Also, Titan’s lakes are filled with liquid ethane, which is less dense than water. So with the less dense ethane and Titan’s weaker gravity, Richardson would have to run at about 8.7 meters per second. When she won the 100 meters at the World Championships last year, her time was significantly faster at 9.3 meters per second.
So on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, Richardson could run on water. In other news, we can all levitate if we were to find ourselves in outer space.
If you want to learn more about our hometown Olympian, Richardson plays a big role in the new Netflix series Sprint, which follows her and other athletes through the 2023 World Championships. Season 2 will cover the 2024 Paris Olympics as they strive to become champions.
