The Evolution of Physical Ability

I look at athletes today, and I am faced with a very interesting question that has perplexed me for nearly a decade. History is filled with athletes! Throughout history athletic achievement has been measured by the athlete. Science is not as common a word when dealing with athletics. Athletes measure ability with variables such as speed, strength, and heart. These are good attributes to consider in regard to ability. If you were to take a look throughout athletic history in regards to athletic ability; to compare the overall power or energy output of the athletes of the past to athletes of today, What you would find is a redundancy of build of the athlete. Athletes may have changed on some level over time, but the amount of complete power produced by any given athlete in any sport can be measured incrementally. (Don't go wrecking through google to find a single account that doesn't fit this premise: Notice the overwhelming # of sports this premise pertains too!) What I usually do to get the point across is take the 100 yrd dash world record time from the past century and show how incremental the complete power we produce changes. 

Before I reveal any more of the research: 

Let's see what anybody has to say about the evolution of Physical Ability. I speak of Physical Ability as it pertains to the complete power of a person. I look forward to any insight into Physical evolution or opinions that may interest you. 

Thanks for your Time!

Chris L.