Les wrote:
It does seem strange that while there have been world-class cyclists from Colombia, there has not been a single world-class runner.
Well, there was one guy who was world class back in the 70's - I can't recall his name at the moment. Some of this stuff is cultural no doubt. Colombians don't give a damn about running. It isn't macho. Now, cyclists have to have cojones, especially those good at climbs, those who fly like banshees downhill.
It's not only the marathon per se, it's running itself. Look at the Brits. In a very short period of time they had Coe, Ovett, Cram, Elliot (1:42, sub 3:50 miler etc. - people forget about him) - and this from a population slowly being tuned more and more to soccer. When track hit some popularity, the Brits produced some runners. Spain also, Portugal in the distances in the early and mid 80's. Now you see the Africans, with sections of the population at least trying the sport en masse, assuring at minimum a decent sized number of talented individuals. Yes, there is the drug question with guys like Rosa and such involved. But there is also the talent issue - and numbers or percentage of people competing. Not many Europeans or Americans, percentage wise, are interested in running track or marathons, or even give it a real, solid shot. Ever. Too many other choices. The E. Africans don't have anything else. But a lot of guys have the physiological make up to make it to the top, and with everyone giving it a try, they will show through. Even without drugs, and with Europeans and Americans giving the sport a chance at the same percentage as the E. Africans, the E. Africans would have a higher percentage of talented individuals in their populations. The overall numbers might change in terms of dominance, as there would be more and Europeans and Americans able to tussle it out at the top.
While the E. Africans dominate now, it could turn into N. African domination if the sport ever became as popular as soccer there. Don't believe the people who tell you soccer is more popular than track in Kenya. Uh uh. They give running a shot before soccer. They don't believe they can be as good at soccer as they can in running. It could swing back toward European dominance numbers wise in distance running if Euros took to the sport as they did in the 60's and 70's in terms of popularity. It could swing somewhere else, maybe like India. With a huge population and tons of skinny guys with runner's builds, who knows? They don't have any interest at the moment, field hockey and cricket are far more popular. They are hypnotized by field hockey.
What about all the non-altitude guys from places other than the US who don't train at altitude? Where did Steve Jones train, anyone know?