It has been dismissed as racist and divisive, but scientists are confronting the greatest taboo in sport: that black athletes are ‘genetically programmed’ to run faster and longer than white athletes.
In the most comprehensive study of the biological differences between African and European athletes, Scandinavian researchers compared runners in Kenya and Denmark. Their findings confirm what observers have long suspected: that many Africans have greater stamina and speed than Europeans.
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The study, revealed this week in a Channel 4 documentary, will fuel the simmering row over biological advantage in the high-pressure world of track and field. Many black athletes – including some African Olympic champions – dismiss claims of genetic differences between African and European runners as a racist slur.
Danish sports scientists spent eighteen months in the Kenyan town of Eldoret, the capital of the north-western province where the Kalenjin tribe live. Twelve of the world’s top 20 distance runners are Kalenjin and their seemingly effortless victories in 800-metre races and marathons have sparked a passionate debate about genetic advantage.
The scientists compared Kenyan athletes’ style and physique with Danish runners. The African athletes’ heart rates were remarkably slow, even when running at more than 15mph over long distances.
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High altitude – the Kalenjin live on a plateau 7,000ft above sea level – increases the number of red blood cells which carry oxygen around the body and is thought to explain the low heart rate.
Experts, the programme says, went on to observe that the Africans had ‘birdlike legs, very long levers which are very, very thin’, that enabled them to ‘bounce and skip’ over the ground, taking off after each footfall far faster than the Europeans.
They ‘flowed through the running motion’ compared with the Danes, who ‘landed heavily and sunk into the ground and almost had to pull themselves forward. They are “pullers”, whereas the Kenyans are “bouncers”.’
The researchers found that Kalenjin from a particular district – Nandi Hills – outperformed other Kenyans. To test whether Nandi Hills runners were ‘born with talent’, the scientists chose three groups of schoolboys at random – one from Denmark, one from the Nandi Hills and one from Eldoret – who had never had athletic training.
After three months of instruction, the groups competed against each other over 10,000 metres. The Nandi Hills group outperformed not only the Danish boys, but also the boys from Eldoret.
To confirm the findings were not a fluke, the scientists pitted two of the Nandi Hills boys against one of Denmark’s top-ranked distance runners, Thomas Nolan. The schoolboys won.
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After the race Nolan said: ‘In the beginning they ran quite fast. It was a hot day. I had confidence. I thought, “Let them run. They don’t know much about running because they have not done running before”.’
But over twelve and a half laps the two novices maintained their lead. ‘I could not catch them up – they were getting longer and longer away,’ Nolan said. ‘I think they were 50 or 60 metres ahead when we came to the finishing line.’ One of the boys, David Kemboi, told the scientists: ‘I was surprised I won because I didn’t have that knowledge that I can run fast like a world champion.’
Bengt Saltin, of the Danish Sports Science Institute, which conducted the trials, claimed they show the Nandi Hills Kalenjin have a genetic advantage over other athletes. ‘There are definitely some genes that are special here.’ Mike Boit, Kenyan Commonwealth Games gold medallist in 1978, agreed. ‘The genetic inheritance is there.’
Kenya’s 1988 Olympic gold medallist Peter Rono added: ‘It has to do with the tradition, the food, the environment and then, of course, the upbringing of someone because you know we are brought up in a different kind of environment.’
But the idea of genetic advantage is angrily dismissed by other Kenyan Olympic heroes, who insist it is racist. Kip Keino, Olympic gold medallist in 1968 and 1972, said: ‘To me it’s interest and hard work. There’s nothing in this world unless you work hard to reach where you are and so I think running is mental, three-quarters of anything is mental.’
Hugh Montgomery, a cardiovascular geneticist at University College London, who has seen the Danish team’s findings, denied that pinpointing genetic factors is racist. ‘There is clearly an influence of race on performance, and that isn’t to be racist; it’s just saying that different races have different strengths.’
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHY
