why are Black people so good at running

[Deleted]

There are different types of muscle tissue. One of those is made for long steady force. Another one is for a fast force, like sprinting. This is partially determined at your birth due to genetics. It is also impossible to train both, you can't be a top sprinter and a top marathon runner. When you train one the other gets "weaker".

If you look at places where the best black sprinters come from you'll see that its from a small area, for example Jamaica. This has to do with the genes which stay in this area.

But you'll see other sports where white people dominate.

By the way i don't think its a stupid question.

[Flatspriest]

By the way i don't think its a stupid question.

Not a stupid question at all. Just alot of ignorant replies such as "running from the police". Answers like that are racist and down right degrading.

[Strakha]

Jamaica's national sport is pretty much running. Check out the Champs interview with Usain Bolt. If Jamaica could field more athletes, they'd probably finish 1-10 every race. But the Olympics has to have a certain amount of people from each region, so they can advertise Coca-Cola to everyone. It's not about who's the best, it's just about who can qualify in each region.

Not the most interesting subject, but it's mundane enough I suppose.

[Enrage]

It's not a stupid question. There's an actual reason to it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...cientists.html

Second time I've posted this link but I doubt anyone clicked it the first time.

I read it, you at least taught one person something

And now two. Thank you, Vizzle.

[Deleted]

It's been proven pretty much as fact that in general, black peoples muscles twitch faster. When your muscles move they twitch and for black people this happens slightly faster. Why does it happen? We don't know.

The only theory I know of (and goddamn is it controversial but it does make sense) is that with all the slave trade, the physically weak ones died and the strong survived so only those who were physically strong were able to pass on genes, hence good muscles.

Edit: Keep the bollocks like "lol fried chicken watermelon and kool-aid" and "lol run from da police" outta here, otherwise every other post in this thread will get an infraction. It's pathetic and offensive.

Well, many of the olympic golds by black people come from African countries, from the "leftovers of slavery", i.e. those who were not so strong. But Africans, mainky Kenyans are good at mid-distance, and at long-distance (which might be highly cultural: what kind of sport doesn't require any kind of facilities? Also, because they started to be good at it, the sport became popular in those countries and more people decided to practice it, increasing the odds of new great athletes appearing). Americans and Europeans are good at sprint disciplines, and other strength sports.

Is it that they are intrinsically stronger? I am not convinced. I think it has to do more with what is acceptable for success in their communities. In America, black communities have the fame (a fame that resounds outside of the US, whether it's true or not) that they praise physical and sport achievement over school achievment. That would be a reason for a much larger percentage of blacks than whites to take sports as a career, hence resulting in more blacks than whites suceeding at professional sports.

[Bolson13]

A few reasons I think. Popularity of the sport etc. though they would probably dominate other types of sport as well.

Also the whole slave thing might have something to do with it. I understood that they actually castrated/nutered males that were not fit for reproduction? I mean, this has been done with animals of all types so I guess it would help with humans as well. Keeping a good pedigree record that is.

And I think for the Kenians, the country is actually fairly high up so they have a combination of things that make them ideal for running long distances. Same for Ethiopia.


I think though this has been discussed many times so you probably will be able to find some more sound reasons somewhere.

[Kuniku]

That's not true.

The earliest record of man domesticating horses is from around 4500 BC (Without certainty). Horses actually came from Northern America (Canada and those areas) from when N.America was connected to what we now call Russia. Some groups managed to get over to the EU continent before the effects of shifting plates happened again. The horses who got over then traveled towards the middle east and Asia where they found cave art of horses who date back to 30,000 BC. The Chinese started using horses around the same time Northern Europe did - Bronze Age under the Yin Dynasty. Horses were then used for Warfare and Chariots which in turn revolutionized warfare as man knew it and gave some tribes and cultures a advantage they could only dream about before.

Any questions?

what about africa though? you know where the people we're talking about presumably originated =p

[koodledrum]

Michael Johnson did a documentary about it, it was actually pretty interesting to watch (I'm sure it was a channel 4 production)

[Bolson13]

There is also the black cyclist from Trinidad (probably the US next olympics) which made a decent upset at this olympics at the velodrome. And there is also a black speedskater. The first one ever and he won a few golds olympic medals as well.

I suspect that they will be pretty good in any sport where legstrenght is important. Especially the ones from the Americas since it never seem to be the true Africans that win the sprint numbers.

[Stir]

Personally, I think it's mostly a cultural thing.

In many parts of the world, 'black' people belong predominantly to the poorer classes; a phenomenon due to some nasty bits in our history. In the US, for instance, the best way for a mostly-Congoid person to get into college is to be really good at sports, simply because otherwise, they won't be able to afford it. They need sponsorships. Non-Congoids who are poor are usually not in the competing circles, and those who are are often wealthy enough to pay the bills so they do not need to push themselves physically. Which is why I believe that there are so many top athletes of Congoid descent in the US, even though the group is a vast minority.

As for running: There is one 'race' from Kenya that is the best running race... But it's a tiny group of people, really. The whole bellybutton thing might also be true; especially Northern men have shorter legs. Shorter legs make for lower speeds, but more endurance, and, most importantly, much less frostbite. However, another important difference is that people from poor (and dry) countries in Africa have a tendency to walk long distances. They need to get water, after all, and when you can't afford a car or even a bike, you'll end up walking miles and miles over relatively flat terrain, whereas most 'white' people would just take a car to get somewhere. Basically, the laziness of the wealthy is a very poor training ground. Change things over, and you would probably see a lot more indo-germanic runners.

One other thing that should (probably) be noted is the tendency to overheat. Northern people overheat really easily. I give you an example: Marrianne Vos, the Dutch cyclist, was glad that it rained so much on her run. She said it contributed to her winning a medal. And that is because, as a Dutch person, she is used to rain, heavy winds, snow, sleet, hail and other such weather... But not really as much to heat and sun. Sure; she would also have a disadvantage in bad weather, but other people would be much worse off than her, so, in effect, 'bad' weather helped her win a medal.

So... If you would hold running competitions on the North Pole, chances are the tables would be turned. The three factors involved are: Culture, Climate, Heritage, and personally: I believe that would be the order of importance.

[Waimzer]

I agree with Stir's post above, its pretty much based on the social factors from years ago that in turn - create better genetics amongst said olympians in todays races.

[conscript]

Ya so I'm going to close this. I'd like to apologize for not doing it sooner or cleaning up the racial commentary. My phone decided not to inform me I received about two dozen post reports about this thread. So, my bad anyone who was offended by the content of some of this thread.