Oh really? wrote:
xcski wrote:Cross country skiing by far. Take a look at the graph about 1/3 down the page...
Well, why don't East Africans dominate it then? And don't say cuz they don't have any snow neither.
Oh really? wrote:
xcski wrote:Cross country skiing by far. Take a look at the graph about 1/3 down the page...
Well, why don't East Africans dominate it then? And don't say cuz they don't have any snow neither.
Well, you gotta admit there aren't too many East African XC ski areas.
But, physiologically I think it's because XC skiing is a total body sport. East Africans do not have good natural upper body strength. So I don't think they would be as good. This has been discussed elsewhere on Letsrun.
By the way, I assume you mentioned East Africans because of their supposedly high Aerobic capacity?
Well, East Africans don't on average have a higher oxygen uptake than European athletes. That's not the difference maker. They have more mechanical advantages for running (longer leg/upper body ratio, longer achilles tendon etc.)