IGX

Of the past seven Olympics men’s 100m races, all 56 finalists have been of West African descent. Only two non-African runners, France’s Christophe Lemaire, who is white, and Australia’s Irish-aboriginal Patrick Johnson, crack the top 500 100-meter times. There are no elite sprinters who are Asian—or, intriguingly, East African.

Kenyans simply don’t seem to have the genetic package to make them world-class sprinters. But East Africans do tend to excel at long-distance running, and many suggest that’s due to an increased natural lung capacity and a preponderance of slow-twitch muscles. That’s a perfect biomechanical package for long-distance running, but a disaster for sports that require anaerobic bursts, like sprinting or soccer.

Whites of Eurasian ancestry are mesomorphic: larger and relatively muscular bodies with comparatively short limbs and thick torsos. No prototypical sprinter or marathoner here. These proportions are advantageous in sports in which strength rather than speed is at a premium. Predictably, Eurasians dominate weightlifting, wrestling, and most field events, such as the shot put and hammer.

Gav wrote:Another one is the race walking. The shit is just stupid. If I'm not mistaken one foot should always be on the ground to be valid. I saw the slow mo today and ALL of them were 'running'.

seeahill wrote:Deal is: a judge has to see it. They don't use slo-mo. It's just the way the sport is.

dead man walking wrote:genetics and athletic success:

Of the past seven Olympics men’s 100m races, all 56 finalists have been of West African descent. Only two non-African runners, France’s Christophe Lemaire, who is white, and Australia’s Irish-aboriginal Patrick Johnson, crack the top 500 100-meter times. There are no elite sprinters who are Asian—or, intriguingly, East African.

Kenyans simply don’t seem to have the genetic package to make them world-class sprinters. But East Africans do tend to excel at long-distance running, and many suggest that’s due to an increased natural lung capacity and a preponderance of slow-twitch muscles. That’s a perfect biomechanical package for long-distance running, but a disaster for sports that require anaerobic bursts, like sprinting or soccer.

Whites of Eurasian ancestry are mesomorphic: larger and relatively muscular bodies with comparatively short limbs and thick torsos. No prototypical sprinter or marathoner here. These proportions are advantageous in sports in which strength rather than speed is at a premium. Predictably, Eurasians dominate weightlifting, wrestling, and most field events, such as the shot put and hammer.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... etics.html

Gav wrote:

seeahill wrote:Deal is: a judge has to see it. They don't use slo-mo. It's just the way the sport is.

Tim, that's like saying a boxer can kick his opponent in the bollocks if the ref doesn't see it. Anyway, race walking progress is limited by it's own rules. The human body can only go so fast without breaking them. I think these guys have reached that limit. So it's time to yank it from the games IMHO, and replace it with something serious like Olympic deepthroating (by a woman, before Turd or Pinky chime in).

seeahill wrote: And I like to see guys who do it well.

Gav wrote:

-Frankly, there are things that shouldn’t be in the Olympics like shooting, archery, equestrian, rhythmic gymnastics, race walking, synchronized swimming and sailing, I’m on the fence about Ping Pong. I know the people who compete in them work hard and are as dedicated to their sport as swimmers and track athletes are to their’s, but I can’t call the competitors, athletes, in shooting, archery, equestrian (the horse is the athlete) and sailing. And I can’t call the competitions, sports, in the cases of rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming because their outcomes are purely subjective, (and yes I know that artistic gymnastics is too, but come on are you gonna make that argument) so I would consider them exhibitions or possibly spectacles. As for race walking…they are just reject distance runners.