Why are black people so fast?

[orange]

a lot of the runners from East Africa are so good because of the altitude at which they practice, and the temperature where they live. By comparison, running at the Olympics in, say, Atlanta seems like a walk in the park.

[Tingkai]

Re: Why are black people so fast?

Originally posted by Lancer

Why do fit white guys like me have zero chance in a race with most fit black guys?

Your question is wrong.

An average white runner can beat an average black runner.

A fit white runner can easily win a race against a fit black boxer.

[Lancer]

Ok Orange. So the general opinion here is that over great amounts of time, generations, some blacks have become geneticly superior at running, yes?

[orange]

i wouldn't go that far...there is that whole theory about the 'black calves' but I don't buy into it.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by UberKruX
Kenya is notorious for having some of the best runners in the world, and thats largely due to their altitude.

And attitude. I've seen shows about these runners and they grew up wanting to be like their heros and their heros were long-distance runners.

The star marathoners from Kenya have trained since they were kids. That doesn't happen as much as in other countries.

It's just like hockey. The best players are from Canada because hockey is THE sport in Canada.

[Lancer]

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Berzerker
Interesting question, blacks have traditionally lived in hotter climes so the body reacts over 10's of millennia and becomes lankier/taller to increase evaporation to regulate body temps. People who live in colder areas or have "recently migrated from colder areas have bulkier/shorter bodies to conserve heat. Longer legs usually translates into better foot speed...

And that explains why the bushmen and the pygmies are so tall.

[Lancer]

Tingkai, are you saying that white track people lack attitude?

[Tingkai]

No, what I'm saying is that Kenya produces a lot of great marathon runners because it is a popular sport there. The attitude there, for many kids, is "I want to be a marathon runner." The attitude of Canadian kids tends to be "I want to be a hockey player."

As a result, Kenya produces a lot of the top marathon runners while Canada produces top hockey players.

It has very little to do with race and a lot to do with when kids start training and how hard they work at a particular sport.

[Lancer]

"It has very little to do with race and a lot to do with when kids start training and how hard they work at a particular sport."

Sounds alot like 'white track people lack attitude' to me.'

[TCO]

Originally posted by orange
a lot of the runners from East Africa are so good because of the altitude at which they practice, and the temperature where they live. By comparison, running at the Olympics in, say, Atlanta seems like a walk in the park.

It's not just altitude. There are lots of people who train at altitude and it has minimal effect. It's much more likely a racial effect of body type. You don't see pygmies in the NBA, right? Certain races are better at certain physical tasks because of physique.

[TCO]

Originally posted by Tingkai


And that explains why the bushmen and the pygmies are so tall.

Bushmen and pygmies will be short even if they are raised in other terrain/climates. They have short genes. Same is true in opposite for Mesai tribesmen. There is a lot of diversity in the "black" race. West Africans tend to be good sprinters. East AFricans tend to be good distance runners. Physiques are noticeably different.

[yavoon]

whatever the truth is some things are apparent. lots of white guys wanted to be boxers. but none of them are ever heavyweight champion.

same w/ running, no white man has even broken 10 seconds in the 100 meter. there's counter arguments in anecdotes to the case for black athletic advantages. but the basis that when black culture is interested in a sport they appear to utterly dominate it is pretty apparent.

blacks are a minority in the population, a minority in the high school basketball population, not sure about college, but lotsa white college basketball players. then its pretty much 7 foot foreigners and black guys in the nba.

[ixnay]

I think it's because they have more fast-twitch muscle fiber.

That makes them better at rapping, too.

[Kramerman]

Re: Why are black people so fast?

Originally posted by Lancer
I was just flipping through the channels, watched a foot race w/ a bunch of black guys and one white guy. Anyway, the slowest black guy outran the white guy. I assume the white guy had to be the fastest white guy on earth, just to be there. It struck me, over my many years, I have seen many such races end exactly the same way.

Why?

Why do fit white guys like me have zero chance in a race with most fit black guys?

I run varsity track. In district I out ran everybody but one black guy and one Mexican, beating several blacks, mexicans and whites (there were no asians... i assume because they are too busy studying instead of physical competition ). I could have beaten that Mexican tho, i just didnt wont to go to regionals.

So, from my experience, the list of athleticism by race goes as follows:

1) black
2) white
3) hispanic
4) asian