Why does ethiopian sprinting suck?

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marauder wrote:

Why does ethiopian sprinting suck? For the same reason american distance running sucks. No single country can be great at everything.

Sprinting is more technical. You need more facilities, not just tracks but weight rooms and PT resources, video analysis for timing and biomechancs, and coaching, and you need this at an earlier age for more athletes. You can't say everyday: Just go out and run.

Ethiopia has ONE track in the whole country, so sprinting is basically out. But in the US we have all kinds of facilities available for distance running, just like we have for sprinting. But in distance running, we aren't getting the results.

Most of America doesn't have what is needed to be excellent distance runners. Not all of America is at altitude.

Lousy pharmacists in Ethiopia.

Same reason Nigerian distance runners stink (but sprinters are good) -- it's all in the genes!!

Same reason Nigerian distance runners stink (but sprinters are good) -- it's all in the genes!! >>

Here's another irony: Aren't the best South African springers and jumpers white?

They are trying to develop a sprinting program by recruiting the people from the southern fringes of the country where there are more diverse populations. East Africans can be as fast as Asians and whites.. but not as fast as west africans.

boywon wrote:

Same reason Nigerian distance runners stink (but sprinters are good) -- it's all in the genes!!

Explain this to Jeremy Wariner, who is white and now has the fastest 400 time in the world.

A high percentage of the top sprint times--including almost all of the sub-10s--have come from english speeking nations. Many of the sprinters from places like Jamaica and Bahamas (Trinidad in the case of Ato Boldon) have run for US Universities. Access to the best facilities is important to run the best times, whereas in Kenya they can just go to St Patricks for a couple of years (not much in terms of facilities needed) and then set the world on fire.

Tim Noakes makes the point that African runners have superior fatigue restance at longer distances, so we might be better off not trying to compete with our best athletes in distances longer than 5K (Deena statistically has a much better chance in the Olympics at 10K than marathon).

But it seems to me that the real issue is attitude, not altitude. So the white distance runners can sit on their asses and watch a white sprinter maybe win a gold medal.

Has any Ethiopian broken 10 for the 100? Don't you think some have tried?

Aren't most sprinters of west african decent?

it is true wrote:

Has any Ethiopian broken 10 for the 100? Don't you think some have tried?

Aren't most sprinters of west african decent?

You will not find ANY east Africans on the IAAF all-time list for 100. But you will find Japanese. Once again, it's about the support structure needed to run fast times in the sprints. There have been some Kenyans who did well at 400, but the same skinny legs that may give them an advantage at 10000 are going to make it very hard to get out of the blocks fast enough for the 100: Just not enough power.

Most top sprinters may be of west African descent, but they are lifing in the US, Canada, UK, etc.

BTW, Wariner's 400 time in the OT final is equivalent to well under 10 in 100m.

Wariner's 400 time in the OT final is equivalent to well under 10 in 100m

And my 100 is equivalent to a 2:11 marathon.