Mexico city is at 9,000ft altitude and 3rd largest city in world. Why no produce more elite runners?

For every stupid question, there are tons of stupid answers. Only a person with lower than an IQ of 55 can't figure that out dummy.

Sala's pal wrote:

Mexico City produced Alberto Salazar and Leo Manzano.

Salazar is from Cuba...Developed into a runner here.

Manzano was born in Mexico, but he was developed as a runner in the USA.

Runner from down under wrote:

Preetty simple.

Corruption,bad mentality and noone cares about running anymore.

Why is Noone the only one who cares about running?

coach wrote:

Body type, body type, body type.

No

Rodolfo Gomez had to migrate to Peru, where he has been the National coach of Peru for several years now, and producing good runners up in Ayachuco. Mexican Federation could not offer him anything. Gomez is Pacheco's coach, among a group of 30 elites. They call Gomez 'Profesor' in Peru, and he has really helped Peru to increase their level in athletics.

On another note, Mexico now has the distinction of being one of the most obese nations on planet earth. It does not help that big bottles of coke are drunk at every.meal, like water, and that those 1.5-2.0 litre bottles of coke are actually cheaper than water. Well, that was my experience many years ago.

Another thing I have noticed about Mexico, is that they have weird eating times. Basically almost nothing for breakfast, but then a big sandwich at around 10am, and then nothing until.lunch, between 2pm-3pm. Big lunch, with plenty of tortillas, either maize or flour.

Evening meal, around 7-9pm is usually composed of pastries, and other sweet and fatty foods - tasty - yes, but not so healthy.

They don't currently dominate distance running, but had a good stretch in the late 80s and early 90s during which they were a major presence. There have been plenty of successful distance runners with short and compact frames. Heck, Kipchoge, while certainly a lightweight, has a fairly compact and proportionate frame as opposed to a long and lanky frame.

I suspect that a shift in emphasis in sports is the biggest factor in play.

There are a lot of factors involved:

1.-There's no system in place to develop long term talent, we have a competition to develop kids from young age, and the only things it achieves it's a burnout of young athletes. This competition National Olympics, works like this: if you win top 2 in your municipal area you go to state championship, if you place top 2 there, you go to regional championship and finally if you get top 2 there you go to the nationals. That may sound as a good thing, the problem is since state budget is used there, sports governing bodies in each state need to win medals, much more than develop an athlete, that creates a situation where you have great athletes badly developed that burnout pretty young.

2-There's no chance you'll live thanks to the sport, the last mexican star Ana Guevara left T&F because she lacked the support of the CONADE, which us something like USA T&F but for all sports, so there's no incentive in being a runner or a jumper or a thrower.

3.-There is no real university system in place to develop athletes, there's a national championship but it's nowhere near the level of D1, and people who develop and focus themselves on T&F during university, have a hard time after. Theres a piece a while back about an olympian from Mexico, I think in modern penthathlon, he studied in the best university in Mexico, had a master's and everything, so when the time came to retire, he couldn't find a job, he has more than prepared but the lack of professional experience hit him hard.

4.-Finally, there's just more money in soccer, just like in the US where some athletes do track but ultimately go to the NFL, here's the same but with soccer, if you're in the U17 national team they pay you a lot and take of you, obviously money goes up as age, knew a sprinter who was a national champ but just went with soccer because he could make a living out of it. (He's currently playing professional in the mexican league)

There'es talent no doubt about it, but there's no interest in developing by governing authorities. Search Moroni Rubio, a sprinter from Mexico, he used to beat Usain Bolt when they were juniors, sadly he was overworked and injured himself.

Running doesn't produce the ROI that selling illegal drugs does. Or scamming the USA federal benefits programs.

Hopefully this becomes the preferred destination for North American runners and scouts.

well,, wrote:

Runner from down under wrote:

Preetty simple.

Corruption,bad mentality and noone cares about running anymore.

Why is Noone the only one who cares about running?

He never got over Mrs. Brown's daughter.

We seem to come back to him often but ...

Didn't Lydiard coach in Mexico for a while ?

Which probably goes towards explaining their success in the 80s / 90s.

jkwew wrote:

Wow, I never realized Mexico City was that high. I used to spend a lot of time there for work and was just checking my runs in Chapultepec Park. Crazy I raced a 1:12 half there at that altitude. I feel better now. .

It's not. Its 7380'.

Why does the OP think that altitude is responsible for fast runners? The Kalenjin run great wherever they live. Other tribes in Kenya do not.

Glad to see it pointed out that Mexico City is at 7400'.

It's a great town, love it, but not a great place to run.

The entire "Bajio", the central plateau of Mexico, is around 7000 feet and above, covering a huge swath of territory in the heart of the country. So there are great running environments in states like Guanajuato, Queretaro and San Luis Postosi. And as a poster pointed out, the system is not in place to support a culture of elite running.

That being said, distance running is embraced and even small races pony up prize money which brings out the hopefuls. I lived in Oaxaca for 9 years, at 5000 feet plus. There are a great network of trails just north of the city to train on. I found that the quality of the fields were much stronger than in road races in Northern California where I'm from.

Bunches on 2nd tier Kenyans lived and trained there, soaking up the local prize money. Fun scene, but sub-elite.

The runners that don't get shot, knifed, or kidnapped get run over after becoming comatose from the air.

There are cities where if you see someone running, you assume it is for fitness. In other cities, it is them trying to save their skin. La Ciudad is the latter.

Pregunto Pendejo wrote:

The runners that don't get shot, knifed, or kidnapped get run over after becoming comatose from the air.

There are cities where if you see someone running, you assume it is for fitness. In other cities, it is them trying to save their skin. La Ciudad is the latter.

My wife's family lives in durango mexico right beside a park that has several 1km (i was told it was 1km but didn't get the chance to run them) dirt tracks on it. People are running there all the time for fitness. Every morning there is a ton of smoothie stands around too for after you run. It is a sweet set up. 6200' elevation. Everyone is working out, running, or walking in that part of town. Really nice, and veryyyy cheap.

Mexicans eat too many tacos. Bad for running.

DC Runnerman wrote:

Why would you work at 6 flags if you got a 9 figure settlement?

Because I love theme parks and I'm bored with life. That's why. I'm also an expert in roller coaster physics. The person who designs a roller coaster is an architect. The person who operates a roller coaster is an engineer.

Life is not all about money amigo. I was worth 7 figures prior to the settlement.

malmo wrote:

Why does the OP think that altitude is responsible for fast runners? The Kalenjin run great wherever they live. Other tribes in Kenya do not.

The kalenjin may run well, but as a whole still not as great as the massai or tarahumara people, who are both historically at high altitude.

Although not an anthropologist, I could sit here all day educating you on the genetic and cultural supremacies of these 2 indigenous groups. 1 of African decent. 1 not of African decent. Both high altitude heritage.