  We present a new way of estimation of the role of chance in achieving
success, by comparing the empirical data from 100-meter dash competitions (one
of the sports disciplines with the most stringent controls of external
randomness), with the results of an agent-based computer model, which assumes
that success depends jointly on the intrinsic talent of the agent and on
unpredictable luck. We find a small, but non-zero contribution of random luck
to the performance of the best sprinters, which may serve as a lower bound for
the randomness role in other, less stringently controlled competitive domains.
Additionally we discuss the perception of the payoff differences among the top
participants, and the role of random luck in the resulting inequality.
