Watching the Olympics might make you wonder how they do it. What sets these athletes apart from the rest of us? Science offers a few hints.
The Olympics are a showcase of all the incredible things the human body can do.
Watching the 2024 Paris games, we found ourselves wondering, "What makes Olympic athletes so different from the rest of us?"
Yes, many of them have genetic advantages — they're tall enough, short enough, or bendy enough to compete at the highest level. And yes, they spend years and years training.
For both of these reasons, Olympians are just built differently on a macro and micro level.
So how does an athlete like Team USA gymnast Simone Biles do it? Science gives us a few hints.