What is it that makes the people of a certain race the FASTEST on the tracks?

Question

Their bodies seem sculpted for speed.

While in other events which showcase STRENGTH like say, wrestling, the field is wide open for all the races.

In gymnastics Chinese dominates.

Is this to do with the genes or training or some other mysterious strain???

Answer 1

Hard work.  

Answer 2

haha in mens gymnastics china does....but not in female hahaha talk about disaster...the girls from china couldnt stay on the beam stay in bounds or stick a landing

Answer 3

Its NOTHING to do with race as it seems.

Its all about how much work the athletes put in to win it. Chinese dont just "suddenly" dominate. Years ago it was Russia which was the favourites but this year the chnese government has spent billions on just a few chinese gymnasts to win that gold.

Its all about money my friend. Britain is kicking *** in sailing and cycling becuase they have the best funding and stuff.

If I wanted to, I could work my *** off and beat Micheal Phelps or Usain Bolt. (but thats not going to happen is it?)

Answer 4

Of course, training from childhood, hard work are essential for success in sports in world level.

However, I think culture, living conditions and genes are very important factors as well.

Living conditions: many long range racers come from high altitude towns. Kenya of course one of world leading in gold medals has high altitudes and mountains in many of its parts. In many countries, you find long range winners are mostly from high altitude.

The reason is the less oxygen available there, which makes the person lungs stronger in absorbing the oxygen.

Genes: It is interesting that most of the Kenyan gold medals came from one single tribe (Kalenjin) which makes only 10% of Kenya population. They are only 3 million people and got more than twice of US medals in long race ranges.

National geographic had one full article about this tribe few years ago.

Also, if you look into 100 meters races, you will find it more dominated by darker people. Their muscle structure is stronger. Their muscle are leaner (less fat, more muscle mass), they have longer and stronger bones and muscle fibers.

In soccer, where there are a lot of important factors to excel in this sport, blacks seems are never short of the physical attributes factor, especially sprinting.

Culture: I think culture is important to make the sport popular among the nation. US women soccer team is the best in the world, while the US men soccer team had a dream year when they reached a quarter final. Soccer for many reasons grew very popular among American females more than males.

Australians play soccer very tough like rugby, while Brazilians focus on skills as they grew up playing it on the sands beaches.

Answer 5

It could be some 'mysterious strain' that makes them so fast.  Scientists need to take it seriously and do some research.  My guess is that they share some genes found in Cheetah, the fastest animal.  Just a thought in passing!  Look at their lean mean bodies.  The Best! If people think that training ALONE can make them equal or faster then they are being delusional.

Answer 6

In track the best athletes train in the US, even the Jamaicans.

Answer 7

I don't really think that race of a person is involved. Its all about training for it. I think if a white man trains really hard he could do good on sprints.

Answer 8

I think it's a mixture of genes and culture.  It's obvious in the case of the U.S. and basketball or China and table tennis, but I think certain culture preach certain aspects maybe more subtly.  For instance, as a Chinese-American, I know that Americans love American football, and this sport preaches sprinting, but not so much endurance.  There are short sprints, and then the game waits for a long time before continuing again.  In addition, there are even three different teams, as the people who play offense get a rest when the defense is on the field, and vice versa.  Compare this to Association football (soccer), where almost all of the 11 players stay on the field for the entire 90 minutes, and there are no timeouts or stoppages other than for injuries or celebrations.

It's harder to pinpoint in other cultures, but I think genes combined with these subtle cultural differences is the reason why Ethiopians are good at endurance, etc.

Answer 9

Starting in east Africa approximately 60-100,000 years ago we began to seriously migrate to all corners of the world. Different environments rewarded different skills and traits and we began to change in accordance with the traits that provided us with the most survival value. Hence, diversity.

If we needed to track game and live on the savanna, it helps to have a bit more elasticity in the Achilles tendon. In many part of Africa, denser muscles were not a problem since we would rarely needed to swim or worry about the threat of cold weather.

Metabolisms vary as a function in seasonal changes in food supplies. It may not seem like much of an advantage to gain weight and store fat easily, but if you lived in an environment where you experienced long periods of famine, it might become  essential.

Living in a world in which environmental changes can be sudden, unpredictable and dramatic, diversity gives us a better chance for, at least some us to survive whatever contingencies we may face. Hence we diversify quite easily.

The Chinese may appear to dominate gymnastics (I would include diving), because the generally have evolved to have the optimal ratio of body weight to muscle mass for that function. But it is hard to imagine that cultural values and training don't also play a significant part. To excel in gymnastics, one needs an intense devotion to training, precision, and dicipline- all virtues extolled by Chinese culture. In a sense, the Chinese excel in gymnastics because they want to. Of course, when you have the ability to select from a population of over one billion people it is an advantage. You are  likely that to be able to  find almost any combination of skills and traits (e.g., 7' 6" Yao- basketball).

Answer 10

It doesn't matter the race but the terrain, climate, and geological features of where the runner is born, raised, and trains in.  Of course all olympians work hard but taking into account of someone who trains and is used to an area where it is high up and hard to breathe will of course have a higher endurance versus someone who trains in area that has the normal amount of oxygen on an equal field.  Concerning who the fastest one is depends on terrain.  If you put a person who is used to just running on level ground against someone who trains by running up hills, mountains and roads, I think the person who runs in wild terrain would have the advantage because running up something uses much more muscle and leg power therefore making that runner faster on level ground.