Symmetrical knees associated with sprinting ability: study

According to a study conducted by the Robert Trivers, it has been revealed that the degree of symmetry has a positive connection with the ability to sprint among the very best sprinters.

Trivers, who is an evolutionary biologist and professor of anthropology and biology in the School of Arts and Sciences, believes that symmetry is efficient that propel sprinters to move forward. According to him, this is the first time anyone has separated a variable that would forecast sprinting speed in the future as well as among the very best adult sprinters now.

Trivers along with his colleagues conducted research on the knees of 74 elite Jamaican sprinters and a control group of 116 non-sprinting Jamaicans of the same age and sex and similar in size and weight. It has been found out that the sprinters' knees were much more symmetrical than the knees of people in the control group.

The study reveals that symmetry facilitates for easier movement and saves energy. Though the study establishes a relationship between knee symmetry and running speed in elite sprinters, it does not establish a causal relationship.