Researchers in the journal Nature (Tatem et al., 2004) explored the winning times of the 100-meter dash in the Olympics for both men and women. Using the winning times in the 1900 to 2004 Olympics, they noted that women’s times were decreasing faster than men’s times. In the article, they state, “… we show here that—if current trends continue—it is the winner of the event (the women’s 100-meter dash) in the 2156 Olympics whose name will be etched in sporting history forever, because this may be the first occasion on which the race is won in a faster time than the men’s event.” They used two linear regression lines, one for men and one for women, to come up with their conclusion. 

a. What, statistically, is quite troubling about their quote? 

b. The regression equation for the women’s winning times is time = 44.470 − 0.01688(year). Use that equation to find the year of the first Olympics where the winner is predicted to finish before she even starts! (Remember that Summer Olympics are held in years that are multiples of four; we assume they will continue to be into the distant future, but you can use 2020 or 2021 for the most recent Olympics.)