Idiot's commentary on Lambie

Wayne B

Commentary on Lambie 12/13/2006 1:55PM - in reply to strike one

What if we look at this slightly differently?

Ms Saalfield wrote:
Shame on you, and on your editors, for endorsing and sustaining what can only be called a blatant form of the prejudice we have seen far too much of in the coverage of American track and field in recent years.

Are we to infer from your text that Lambie, who trains seriously and consistently, would have been the winner of the race if only a runner born with the genetic advantages of a Kenyan hadn't run away with her race (and stolen her success)?

There seems to be an assumption by many that Kenyans are innately better runners, and we are only competing for second (or third, etc.). Why has this inferiority complex among American (and western) runners developed?

Legendary coach Arthur Lydiard was noted for his belief that there are champions everywhere. He espoused these beliefs a half-century ago in New Zealand and proceeded to coach "his boys" to multiple Olympic golds. Beating the Kenyans can be done.

We do begin with a societal handicap. When Johnny (or Becky) is driven to school every day in Mommy's SUV, there is some training lost. I've heard people say, "We've engineered exercise out of our lives." It's true. The training value of outdoor play (and especially of multiple hours of it daily) is almost gone from American society today.

Kenyan kids grow up running. Many of them look at their national heroes, and who is it they look up to? Kip Keino, Paul Tergat, Lornah Kiplagat, etc. Who do American kids look up to? Football players, baseball players, and basketball players. There are a few who look up to runners, but the usually doesn't happen until their high school years.

The Kenyans train harder and because their national heroes are runners and because other sports don't skim the cream, the best athletes become professional runners. When a Kenyan child arrives in high school, they've often been informall training for a decade by running or walking to school and by play. How much more aerobic development do they have at the start? I can't really say, but I'm sure it's significant. They then run in school, and some of their schools are virtually "farm teams" for the American collegiate system.

All this said, if, as I believe, there is no inherent genetic advantage that the Kenyans have, the difference comes down to two factors: training (applied consistently over years) and desire. The two go hand in hand. If we put a million kids into general athletic programs very young, even if it's just elimination of school busses and were to reduce the number getting taken away by soccer, football, etc. We might compete successfully with the Kenyans. It is a game of numbers, and because we don't ever get many of the kids to run consistently, we lose and they win.

Simply put, Kipyego won the race by a wide margin because she's one of the best to come out of Kenya AND she's likely run regularly for most of two decades (yes, much of it informally) AND she may well work harder at it than even someone such as Lambie. The result, she's got greater abilities than the best we can offer. Do you want to change it? Then quit griping and start mentoring kids to run and stay fit.

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