why are there no savants in running?

Never heard of Paralympics ?

I mean like a savant whose talent is running. And they drop like a 1:28 800m

Do you mean like idiot savant?

Well, we've got plenty of idiots in this sport. In fact, they post here a lot.

How do you stop Helen Keller from running a 4 minute mile?

Put hurdles in her lane.

Bruh like 50% of pro runners are completely socially inept.

The highschoolers still T pose.

A savant is someone who is brilliant in one thing but far below average in all other aspects of his/her life. Why don't you think we have those people in running? Of course we do.

"a very learned or talented person, especially one distinguished in a particular field of science or the arts."

Similar words are a genius, intellectual, or scholar

Dig through the mud on this website and you'll find there have been plenty of track geniuses posting on here over the years

It's a good question. I think there are coaches who have unique and successful insights, and some runners who have a good sense of what their body responds to. It may not make them savants in the common way the term is used but they achieve better results than others.

The word you're looking for is "mutant", not "savant".

Usain Bolt counts as one methinks.

Gerry the Jogger?

Because the world of "savants" use his own EPO.

Do you think someone like G. Perelman left the system for nothing?

Everything is corrupt (mostly by money) in this world believe it or not.

No. A savant is someone who is brilliant at something. Being far below average at other aspects of life is not a part of being a savant.

An "idiot savant" is also a thing, but that isn't what the OP said.

I think it's because there are likely so many genes related to success in just about every sport, including running. A 1:20 800m runner or whatever the OP said would not just require a 100 billion to one mutant genes, but be physically impossible. Why aren't there people born with green skin? It's obviously not as simple as somebody being born with a 'gene for green skin'.

Having said that, I have often wondered why there hasn't been the occasion mutant who, for example, has a ridiculous lactic acid threshold, and so could run an 800m at close to his 400m pace.

But I guess nearly all world class athletes are mutants to a degree. Nature doesn't actually like doing completely unique things. However rare something appears, there will always be a few more examples of it.

Yeah, his blood won’t be like a normal human’s…

Even in the world of actual savants, there isn’t one who is way smarter than the others. There is just an elite group who stand out among the general population.

Track has hundreds of savants, I see them stand out quite often. It’s called a track meet.

I think there have been some. One was a US Olympian in the 1980s.

LOL, most of us here are savants.

I almost gave you a thumbs up. “Methinks” lost it for you.

There are. Take hundreds of years of genetics, raise them at altitude, running everywhere they go as children, give them a diet of fresh fruit and vegetables and some occasional meat, then put them in an area where athletics stars are like rockstars. Sprinkle in some “other” ingredients, and voila.