RTE showed a programme yesterday evening profiling the Irish participants of the Beijing Olympics. It was interesting but seemed to be mostly about lowering expectations and pointing out that to our athletes competing in finals and semi-finals was a great success.

In the course of it it went into how genetics and envirnoment play a role in an athlete's development. Occassionally the language was slightly clunky but in a well intentioned way. Apparently there have been 500 times under 10 seconds in the 100m. Every single one of them has been run by a man of West African descent. No white man (that was the term used in the programme, I can't think of a better one) has ever run under 10 seconds.

The thing that struck me about that is that I can't think of a famous runner from that region other Frankie Fredriks. All the others that I know are from North America, the Carribbean or the UK. Is it training and food science stopping West Africa becoming the sprinting equivalent of the long distance exploits of Kenya and Ethiopia?

Nigeria's had a vast amount of good sprinters over the years, male and female.

There's a Nigerian guy who has run 9.85 seconds for the 100m (can't think of his name at the moment).

Francis Obikwelu, who runs for Portugal.

I see Nigerians in World Championships and particularly in relays but the fact that I can't name a single one and you can't think of his name was kind of my point. Why are their sprinters only good and not outstanding?

Obikwelu has silver medals from both the Olympics and World Championships, and a number of European Championship golds.

Hieronymus of Hesselink wrote:

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Nigeria's had a vast amount of good sprinters over the years, male and female.

There's a Nigerian guy who has run 9.85 seconds for the 100m (can't think of his name at the moment).

Not really going to matter. The American (sorry, edited, how can I forget a name like Gay) would nominally be shithot, but Mr Bolt, is fucking unbelievable.

I'm getting tired of your facts Ursus.

In fairness though, he has been based in Portugal since the age of 16.

Nil Arshavin wrote:

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I see Nigerians in World Championships and particularly in relays but the fact that I can't name a single one and you can't think of his name was kind of my point. Why are their sprinters only good and not outstanding?

Presumably because the Yanks and Europeans plough a lot more money into their athletics programmes than Nigeria do. Or maybe they just have access to better drugs . . .

Just had a quick check and there were three Africans in the 1992 Olympic men's 100m final, two in the 1996 final, one in the 2000 final and two in the 2004 final. A Ghanaian guy who made the 2000 and 2004 finals failed to finish the race both times.

Incidentally Obikwelu is not the Nigerian who has run 9.85 seconds, that is Olusoji Fasuba. Obikwelu has done 9.86.

2006 Commonwealth Games 100m Final:

1 Asafa Powell Jamaica 10.03 s
2 Olusoji Fasuba Nigeria 10.11 s
3 Marc Burns Trinidad and Tobago 10.17 s
4 Uchenna Emedolu Nigeria 10.22 s
5 Aziz Zakari Ghana 10.22 s
6 Patrick Johnson Australia 10.26 s
7 Anson Henry Canada 10.28 s
8 Marlon Devonish England 10.30 s

Uchenna Emedolu won silver in 2002 too.

Commonwealth Games? Give me a break here Jorge. I'm not disputing that there ae good sprinters in Nigeria. I'm making the point that although the 500 best times in the 100m have been run by people of West African descent, the vast majority of those times were run by people who did not train there.

I found it interesting that to be at that level you need to have particular genes, top-class training and coaching and a world class diet and sports science.

Also mentioned was the fact that every Kenyan world class long distance runner was from the Rift Valley out of a population of about 2 million people. Even though Kenya has 16 million people, their athletes are in a specific region with 1/8th of the total population.

They made the point that long distance prowess is more due to practise and altitude because in general Kenyans and Ethopians have a different genetic structure but are still the best runners due to how much running they do at altitude.

Nil Arshavin wrote:

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Commonwealth Games? Give me a break here Jorge.

Well apart from the USA, the Commonwealth Games has competitors from each and every one of those regions you listed here:

Nil Arshavin wrote:

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The thing that struck me about that is that I can't think of a famous runner from that region other Frankie Fredriks. All the others that I know are from North America, the Carribbean or the UK.

The thing that struck me about that is that I can't think of a famous runner from that region other Frankie Fredriks

Are you talking about West Africa, or Africa in general? I only ask as Frankie Fredericks is Namibian, and that's in the south.

Incidentally, the only man with no African lineage to run the 100m in under 10s is this chap.

... and he was 6th in the 2006 Commonwealth Games 100m <winkything>

Nil Arshavin wrote:

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I found it interesting that to be at that level you need to have particular genes, top-class training and coaching and a world class diet and sports science.

That's not surprising, though, really, when you look at the trend in sprint times over the last few decades. Something's changing, and it's not the athletes' genes.

I think the evidence is pretty good that West Africans are more likely to have a sprinter's musculature than people from many other parts of the world. Some people fight shy of this claim, thinking it racist, or that the implication is that this advantage is unfair, but I believe that's a mistake. However, a sprinter's musculature's not enough; you also need to be expertly trained and conditioned.

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Incidentally, the only man with no African lineage to run the 100m in under 10s is this chap.

I'm shocked to have been misled by RTE.

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Are you talking about West Africa, or Africa in general? I only ask as Frankie Fredericks is Namibian, and that's in the south.

I did think that myself, but figured it was to the South-West.

My jibe at the Commonwealth Games was more tongue in cheek to my point being smattered to pieces by yourself, HoH and ursus' points.

I did worry about coming across as racist or unfair in bringing this up. I wasn't particularly surprised by success being a combination of those factors but the fact that athletes in the richer countries have such a significant advantage over athletes with similar physical ability in poorer areas was a cause for concern.