Sports Gene wins again. B4 she came to America 6-time NCAA All-American Elvin Kibet had never run more than 15 minutes

How does having a silver medalist sister help? How does her sister's successes or failures affect her genes?

I'm becoming increasingly skeptical of kenyan stories. What is the full story to this that isn't being mentioned? How are they counting a run? And does an hour long walk twice a day at altitude while carrying supplies and having near zero extra weight because of a lifetime of malnuritionment play any role in the sudden success?

The western equivalent to this is 20lbs overweight and stopped playing on the soccer team because it got in the way of her favorite TV show...

You are missing an important part.

"Where I grew up was very basic," said Kibet, one of 10 children. "We would go to the river to get water. We would go to the forest to get wood for fire. We did a lot of farming. My parents had goats and sheep and cows. We would just go to school, come back, do chores, clean the house and tend to the livestock. It was very basic."

She grew up doing those chores. She was physically active all her life, although she was not doing any structured training. That kind of lifestyle gave her advantage over American teammates whose spare time was spent on staring at their phones.

Not to mention all the junk foods she did not eat growing up...

oodles wrote:

How does having a silver medalist sister help? How does her sister's successes or failures affect her genes?

It lets her know that she has a pretty good chance of having similar genes.

Which is exactly what she found out.

Having a silver medalist sister means she probably grew up eating next to nothing just like her.

The importance of skinniness to distance running can't be understated.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Having a silver medalist sister means she probably grew up eating next to nothing just like her.

The importance of skinniness to distance running can't be understated.

Elijah Lagat must have eaten his siblings then and absorbed their genes.

" Lagat began running simply to lose weight and not necessarily to compete at the highest level of the sport. As a young man, a physician told him that he "had a lot of fat around his heart" and needed to lose weight. The Kenyan obliged and his weight decreased from 158 pounds in 1992 to 125 by the time he won Boston.[3] He started jogging in 1993 and began competing in 1994. He was already 27 when he first began competing; his late start in the sport is unusual and a testament to his innate talent. Before running, Lagat worked as an educational administrator before switching to full-time athlete.[4]"

Gene Summons wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

Having a silver medalist sister means she probably grew up eating next to nothing just like her.

The importance of skinniness to distance running can't be understated.

Elijah Lagat must have eaten his siblings then and absorbed their genes.

" Lagat began running simply to lose weight and not necessarily to compete at the highest level of the sport. As a young man, a physician told him that he "had a lot of fat around his heart" and needed to lose weight. The Kenyan obliged and his weight decreased from 158 pounds in 1992 to 125 by the time he won Boston.[3] He started jogging in 1993 and began competing in 1994. He was already 27 when he first began competing; his late start in the sport is unusual and a testament to his innate talent. Before running, Lagat worked as an educational administrator before switching to full-time athlete.[4]"

Ever heard of Dennis Kimetto? Sensing a pattern. Kenyans "running" genes get activated when their siblings and friends tell them they can get money/status/education much like they how they would get together to go on cattle raids back in the good ol' days and probably to steal young brides.

Seriously though, not that interesting. I like the stories about fatties like Steve Way jumping off his potato chip infested couch and running 2:15. Which gene is that?

Gene Summons wrote:

The Kenyan obliged and his weight decreased from 158 pounds in 1992 to 125 by the time he won Boston.

You are only proving my point. A fat Kenyan man weighs less than a fat American woman.

It's the gene of not trying something despite having the ability. If any star lived like Lagat or Way and then decided to run they would also excel.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Gene Summons wrote:

The Kenyan obliged and his weight decreased from 158 pounds in 1992 to 125 by the time he won Boston.

You are only proving my point. A fat Kenyan man weighs less than a fat American woman.

Irrelevant. They are still fat by Kenyan standards and it makes no difference as far as hindering their potential.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Having a silver medalist sister means she probably grew up eating next to nothing just like her.

The importance of skinniness to distance running can't be understated.

Yeah, right. Kenyans eat next to nothing, compared to Americans who eat more than anyone else in the world.

Can you explain why Democratic Republic of Congo does not produce better distance runners than Kenya? People there eat even less.

Gene Summons wrote:

oodles wrote:

How does having a silver medalist sister help? How does her sister's successes or failures affect her genes?

It lets her know that she has a pretty good chance of having similar genes.

Which is exactly what she found out.

You should try to be more subtle if you're going to troll. You blew your cover with this one.

oodles wrote:

Gene Summons wrote:

It lets her know that she has a pretty good chance of having similar genes.

Which is exactly what she found out.

You should try to be more subtle if you're going to troll. You blew your cover with this one.

100% in your face truth. Just like the Dibaba clan.

Milcah Chemos also started running when she was 22 right after she got married. Her new husband who was 1500m runner noticed that Milcah had the physique of a distance runner and encouraged her to start running. She ended up being world champion.

In general I think there is a lot of untapped talent all over Africa not just Kenya. Most schools do not have a running track. Many schools do not offer athletics. And many children drop out of school before age 14.

been to kenya wrote:

Can we once and for all get rid of the idea that Kenyans are good because they run everywhere as kids?

James Li knows that. Would he give a scholarship to ANY white American based on an 11 minute 3000m time trial?

Would he?

Not an fr1ckin' chance!

Bad Wigins wrote:

Having a silver medalist sister means she probably grew up eating next to nothing just like her.

The importance of skinniness to distance running can't be understated.

Your knowledge of proper word usage can't be understated.

Just Another LRC Idiot wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

Having a silver medalist sister means she probably grew up eating next to nothing just like her.

The importance of skinniness to distance running can't be understated.

Yeah, right. Kenyans eat next to nothing, compared to Americans who eat more than anyone else in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_food_energy_intake#cite_note-4

Can you explain why Democratic Republic of Congo does not produce better distance runners than Kenya? People there eat even less.

Congo produced the fastest low-Altitude born marathoner of the last couple decades. If he grew up in the mountains maybe he'd be kicking it with Kipsang and Kimetto.

It will be interesting to see how the 2 youngest Dibaba sisters do as they have just started running ages 18 and 16.