August 8, 2016 | Genetic Literacy Project
When it comes to opportunity, running is the most egalitarian of global sports, a natural laboratory. Unlike the props and costumes required for, say, professional football or ice hockey, or the intense coaching demanded of gymnastics an golf, one can just lace up and go for a run. Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila proved this quite memorably in the 1960 Rome Olympics, when—shoeless, coachless and inexperienced—he won the marathon. Raw talent is on display.
Which is what makes the Olympic Games in Brazil and specifically the 100-meter race, the premier spectacle in sports.....One thing that will be clear as the runner’s toe the start line for the final on August 15: this is not an event for Asians, Caucasians or any other racial group other than athletes who trace their ancestry to West Africa............Those who do not understand the power of genes might argue that the medal podium for runners should reflect a rainbow of diversity, as no country or region should have a lock on desire or opportunity. But just the opposite has happened in track and field: running has become almost segregated by ancestry........As UCLA professor Jared Diamond has noted, “Even today, few scientists dare to study racial origins, lest they be branded racists just for being interested in the subject.”....To Read More.....
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