Race and Sport

[David L]

Virtue signal alert:

The young 'un asked a perfectly reasonable question in good faith about why most sprinters in the Olympic Games are black ("I don't want to be racist, I just want to know..."), the reasoning being of course that, on the face of it, their ability is due purely to their skin colour.

I explained, as simply as I could, how that's an example of correlation and not causation (the real reasons aren't uncomplicated).

She got it; the conversation took about five minutes and that was that; why can't all discourse about identitarian issues be like this?

Why are most sprinters black?

[Matt2112]

Why are most sprinters black?

As stated, it's not uncomplicated and there doesn't appear to be a quick and convenient answer to that question.  How much of the answer is due to nature and/or nurture isn't settled from what I've read on the subject.

What are your thoughts?

[The Picnic Wasp]

Why are most sprinters black?

As stated, it's not uncomplicated and there doesn't appear to be a quick and convenient answer to that question.  How much of the answer is due to nature and/or nurture isn't settled from what I've read on the subject.

What are your thoughts?

It's not an answer on a postcard type question, that's for sure.

https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1767&context=student_scholarship

[Slim]

I think this is an interesting topic so I've moved these last few posts to a dedicated thread here in the sport section.

Years ago, during the 2012 Olympics probably or maybe in 2008, the BBC presenter John Inverdale just came out and asked Michael Johnson why he thought there was such a scarcity of white people in the 100m men's event. He came out with a statistic and it was pretty stark, it was something like the top 90 recorded 100m times had been achieved by black athletes. Inverdale put it to him that there must be a physiological advantage related to race.

Johnson just flat out wouldn't accept this. I wondered if he felt a little bit insulted, the implication being that he and other black athletes had had an unfair advantage that somehow undermined their achievement.

Personally I think there must be a particular inbuilt advantage to running shorter distances. We already know that there are anatomical differences so this can't really be considered surprising. It's interesting that it seems to diminish over the longer distances, so I can't really believe that it's a cultural thing.

[Nick]

I've always thought it odd that cycling isn't ruled by Ethiopians in the same way the marathons are. Lightweight with limitless endurance all the essentials of a yellow jersey? Even if it wasn't a possibility at a national level in East Africa surely a European team would be looking to develop somebody.

[David L]

Why are most sprinters black?

As stated, it's not uncomplicated and there doesn't appear to be a quick and convenient answer to that question.  How much of the answer is due to nature and/or nurture isn't settled from what I've read on the subject.

What are your thoughts?

Higher density of 'fast twitch' muscle fibres?

https://www.quora.com/Why-are-black-people-more-athletic

As in the example given by Slim, referring to John Inverdale, it's a thorny subject that most will actively go out of their way to avoid discussing. This appears mostly to be because it is now taboo to suggest there are some fairly profound physiological differences between blacks and whites. Such a suggestion reinforces the concept of racism so has to be avoided.
It seems fairly obvious that your ethnicity can mean that you have certain physical/biological characteristics that are helpful in certain sporting disciplines. Kenyans and Ethiopians, for instance, are great at distance running (there are theories that suggest this may be related to the way their respiratory systems are more efficient at using oxygen). Clearly there are physiological and biological differences that result from environmental factors that are essential for survival, to try to deny that is fairly ridiculous IMHO.

[pxr5]

What about swimming. Very few black swimmers out there. In fact, the more I think about it are there any good non-white swimmers? 

[David L]

What about swimming. Very few black swimmers out there. In fact, the more I think about it are there any good non-white swimmers?

Eric 'the Eel' 

[David L]

John Inverdale had a reputation for speaking the 'unspeakable'. He also wondered aloud whether women's tennis player Marion Bartoli's father ever told her "you're never going to be a looker"


And there are many more. Legend!

    

[Slim]

John Inverdale had a reputation for speaking the 'unspeakable'. He also wondered aloud whether women's tennis player Marion Bartoli's father ever told her "you're never going to be a looker"

Yes and this is why he doesn't work at the BBC now, I suspect. And quite rightly, absolutely ridiculous thing to say.

[Nickslikk2112]

I've always thought it odd that cycling isn't ruled by Ethiopians in the same way the marathons are. Lightweight with limitless endurance all the essentials of a yellow jersey? Even if it wasn't a possibility at a national level in East Africa surely a European team would be looking to develop somebody.

Well, we do have Bin Girmay from Eritrea doing alright in cycling. But Cycling is the national sport in Eritrea.
Apparently Visa problems can be a difficulty, Girmay has to return to Eritrea every three months and there is a history of East Africans been granted Visas and doing a runner.

I suppose that in countries like Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway there is a glut of local talent to fill up available spaces, so no necessity to import talent.