Why in the heck did a KENYAN not break 4:00 before roger banister?

chasers wrote:

During the Olympic weeks of 2012 I was at a bar for Trivia night. The theme that night was, of course the Olympics and out came the question:

"Which country has totaled the most medals in distance running in Olympic History?"

Everyone's eyes at our table shifted at me. We had a few moments to talk about it. A few non-serious track runners propositioned, "Kenya, right?" Someone else "Or maybe it is Ethiopia..."

I sat there and pondered it internally...

Kenya became an independent country in about 1964....in fact, most African countries were not independent until the 1970s and it's debatable some still aren't indepepdnet at all....this leaves 9 or 10 modern olympiads to the unknown....Kip Keino 1968...I read somewhere that Lasse Viren was part of the Renaissance of Finnish Distance running...

I looked up to my teammates and said, "This is a historically involved question. Finland. " And to add emotion I said, "Final Answer." They all gave me very perplexing looks (and laughs). When the trivia guy read off the answer every one looked back at me and smiled in relief. I shrugged my shoulders! No other trivia team in the building got the question right. We won trivia night by one question, we got the gift certificate and free drinks. What a great night!

To answer your question, more than likely they could have broken four well before Roger Bannister. They just didn't have the opportunity to show it yet.

Coevett wrote:

the430miler wrote:

Were white people genetically and physiologically superior in that time period?

You guys seem to think that Kenyans today are on a different level to Europeans, like 20 seconds faster or something. The best Kenyan today, Kiprop, at his very best ran a time ( high 3:261500m) that Coe, Ovett, Cram were probably capable of 30 years ago with a bit more luck regarding pacemakers, unfortunate injuries and ill health etc, never mind with today's Nike shoes, Mondo Monaco tracks, EPOd up Moroccan competition etc Not to mention Kiprop's dodgy biological profile and connections with coaches that have been busted for supplying PEDs.

Also, and I know this is a bit complex for some of you, but demographics play a part too. The population of Kenya in 1954 was 6 million. Today it's 60 million. It's quite probably that in 1954 there was not one Kenyan alive who had even the potential to run a 4 minute mile, at least not on a cinders track in plimsoles with the limited training knowledge at the time and studying 60 hours a week at Oxford to become a world renowned neurologist.

Earlier today I posted about Ronnie O'Sullivan, a full time Snooker player (and the best in history), who after a lifetime of cocaine and alcohol addiction turned to hobby jogging at 30 and ran a 34 second 10K within a couple of years (and, according to his biography, going out on a bender the night before the race). Kenyans compete in one sport - distance running. Europeans compete in 101 different sports. If you take one country (Kenya) with 20 million young, healthy males all dreaming of being Olympic champion at 1500m, and compare it to another (the UK) with maybe 3 million young, healthy (as in active and not obese) males who have 100 different sports to choose from, then you must be retarded (or more likely an inverse racist) to assume that because only one or two Brits now would get into the top 10 Kenyan 1500 list, it means Kenyans are genetically superior and could have run sub 3:50 miles 70 years ago.

Coevett wrote:

You guys seem to think that Kenyans today are on a different level to Europeans, like 20 seconds faster or something. The best Kenyan today, Kiprop, at his very best ran a time ( high 3:26 1500m) that Coe, Ovett, Cram were probably capable of 30 years ago with a bit more luck regarding pacemakers, unfortunate injuries and ill health etc, never mind with today's Nike shoes, Mondo Monaco tracks, EPOd up Moroccan competition etc Not to mention Kiprop's dodgy biological profile and connections with coaches that have been busted for supplying PEDs.

Also, and I know this is a bit complex for some of you, but demographics play a part too. The population of Kenya in 1954 was 6 million. Today it's 60 million. It's quite probably that in 1954 there was not one Kenyan alive who had even the potential to run a 4 minute mile, at least not on a cinders track in plimsoles with the limited training knowledge at the time and studying 60 hours a week at Oxford to become a world renowned neurologist.

Kenyans compete in one sport - distance running. Europeans compete in 101 different sports. If you take one country (Kenya) with 20 million young, healthy males all dreaming of being Olympic champion at 1500m, and compare it to another (the UK) with maybe 3 million young, healthy (as in active and not obese) males who have 100 different sports to choose from, then you must be retarded (or more likely an inverse racist) to assume that because only one or two Brits now would get into the top 10 Kenyan 1500 list, it means Kenyans are genetically superior and could have run sub 3:50 miles 70 years ago.