I am a huge sports fan and a hobby runner. I just read short summary about this book here on letsrun. I guess everybody agrees that genes play a huge part, but are not enough without hard work. Usually it takes about 6-12 years of hard work to become world class (depending on the sport/individual), if the genes are there.
I have not read the book yet, but from the summary it seems that the author refers to a research about leg size (length and thickness) you need to become a world class runner. I remember watching WC 5000m final in 2009 (I think), with Bekele running next to two Americans (Solinsky and Tegenkamp) and they looked like very very different built athletes, that is in height and weight from the rest of the field, but still able to compete. Later Solinsky ran 26;59 for 10000m, being probably around 20-45 lbs heavier than rest of the athletes in that sub 27 "club".
So I was wondering has anyone read the book, and does the author talk about this, and has he got some scientific answers on how this is possible, given the theory about leg thickness or body mass?