Fastest White Guy Ever

[CP87]

You can watch a little piece of history tonight if you catch NBC's tape-delayed coverage of the men's 200m (live at 2:55 Central). Sure, there is the Ussain Bolt thing. But as a bonus, you can watch France's Christophe Lemaitre, the fastest Caucasian sprinter ever.

He is the first Caucasian to break 10 seconds in the 100m dash (he has accomplished this 7 different times), and he is only 22 years old.

He is roughly the 39th fastest 100m athlete of all time (I was counting off in my head as I was going down this list). You have to go a long ways to get to the next Caucasian (somewhere around 80).

He is only the 3rd person to break 10 seconds in the 100m who is not also descended from a fairly narrow strip along the Western African coast. The other two: Frankie Fredericks from Namibia is roughly the 16th fastest 100m athlete ever, and Patrick Johnson (indigenous Australian) is roughly the 41st fastest 100m athlete ever.

 

[IowaTeddy]

It's weird how some people see color so much. He's just another runner, an extremely fast one

 

[nationalchamps]

It's weird how some people see color so much. He's just another runner, an extremely fast one

You obviously aren't a Democrat.

 

[IowaTeddy]

I don't mean to be like that...

I'm just saying, this topic is the kind of thing that everybody thinks about when watching the 100m dash or NBA or something. But make a thread out of it is strange to me. Nice sig btw

 

[CP87]

It's weird how some people see color so much. He's just another runner, an extremely fast one

It's not really about color, but rather ancestry.

I really enjoy track and field, and I think the Western African dominance of the 100m race is fascinating. Of the top 100 fastest men of all time, about 95 of them are descended from a very narrow region of the world. That is an interesting phenomenon, physiologically and sociologically. As our knowledge of genetics grows, some interesting discoveries are being made that help us to understand not just why people descended from this part of the world are fast, but also why anyone becomes fast (see Importance of mitochondrial haplotypes and maternal lineage in sprint performance among individuals of West African ancestry, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, Apr 2012). Also, it is just interesting when someone not from that area breaks into the club. If you don't think seeing a Caucasian in a sprint final is unusual, you have not been watching much track.

Likewise with distance running. For the past 50 years, middle-distance and long-distance events have been dominated by Kenyans and Ethiopians. There have been numerous studies to determine why this is the case, summarized in a recent review article in the Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance (Kenyan and Ethiopian Distance Runners: What Makes Them so Good?, 7(2); 92-102). Furthermore, almost all of the great runners come a small number of tribes out of the many different tribes in these countries. That is also fascinating.

I teach physiology of exercise, so I guess maybe these things are more interesting to me than to others.

 

[goiahawks]

I thought this was going to be about Timmy D

 

[latrans]

It's not really about color, but rather ancestry.

I really enjoy track and field, and I think the Western African dominance of the 100m race is fascinating. Of the top 100 fastest men of all time, about 95 of them are descended from a very narrow region of the world. That is an interesting phenomenon, physiologically and sociologically. As our knowledge of genetics grows, some interesting discoveries are being made that help us to understand not just why people descended from this part of the world are fast, but also why anyone becomes fast (see Importance of mitochondrial haplotypes and maternal lineage in sprint performance among individuals of West African ancestry, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, Apr 2012). Also, it is just interesting when someone not from that area breaks into the club. If you don't think seeing a Caucasian in a sprint final is unusual, you have not been watching much track.

Likewise with distance running. For the past 50 years, middle-distance and long-distance events have been dominated by Kenyans and Ethiopians. There have been numerous studies to determine why this is the case, summarized in a recent review article in the Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance (Kenyan and Ethiopian Distance Runners: What Makes Them so Good?, 7(2); 92-102). Furthermore, almost all of the great runners come a small number of tribes out of the many different tribes in these countries. That is also fascinating.

I teach physiology of exercise, so I guess maybe these things are more interesting to me than to others.

I find this to be very interesting too. I always wonder about what where the evolutionary pressures that led to these differences, I always wondered if the practice of persistence hunting didn't lead to endurance some groups display.

 

[IowaTeddy]

I agree this stuff is fascinating. I guess I was just being judgmental, as you titled your piece 'fastest white guy ever'

 

[Foval21]

it is an interesting topic. i am not a fan of the 100m race as basically you dont see a lot of advancement timewise. to me it is all about the 400, 800, and 1600...those races are true tests. my own opinion on track.

 

[CP87]

I agree this stuff is fascinating. I guess I was just being judgmental, as you titled your piece 'fastest white guy ever'

It was an "attention getting" title I guess, my dabbling with sensationalism. My bad.

 

[CP87]

it is an interesting topic. i am not a fan of the 100m race as basically you dont see a lot of advancement timewise. to me it is all about the 400, 800, and 1600...those races are true tests. my own opinion on track.

As the saying goes, "Distance runners are made, sprinters are born." However, the work it takes to turn that genetic gift into a sub-10s 100m dash is also incredible. I started hearing about Bolt as the next big thing when he was 16, but he didn't really do much until he got serious about his training in preparation for Beijing. However, he could probably roll out of bed after a year off from training, and still be one of the 10 fastest men in the world.

The word on young Bolt was that he was going to be the greatest 400m runner the world had ever seen. His coaches finally switched him to 100's and 200's after he didn't show the discipline necessary to succeed in the 400m. After dominating 100's and 200's for the last 2 Olympics (I am assuming he will win tonight), it would be really bad-*** if he decided to work at the 400 going forward, or even the long jump. If he wanted to solidify his legend as the greatest athlete ever, I think that would do it.

 

[Ronco]

CP, I'm at a loss how you can say it's not about color. For something that's allegedly about ancestry you sure used the words caucasian/white quite a few times. If you really want to catch my attention find similar information/research on the fastest black swimmer, use the words black/african american a number of times, then tell me it's all about ancestory.

Things I take as absolutes-
All White people can't jump very high.
All White people can't run very fast.
All Black people can't swim.
All French people stink.
All Asians are really good at math.
All Asians are really bad drivers.
All people from Great Britain/England are stuck up snobs.
Everybody from Ireland are drunken brawlers.

This is fun isn't it?

 

[vgshwk]

I guess you have never seen me in Iowa during the winter running to my car jumping over snow banks with a 50 mph wind in my face then you have incentive to run.

 

[IowaTeddy]

Naw I've just been thinking/reading about Lolo a lot lately and her story of media fame as a beautiful female athlete. And then people talking about the controversy of her popularity without as much success as some of her competitors. It's because she's more conventionally 'beautiful' to the market of mainly white people, because she's more white. It's all really interesting stuff.

Anyways, I'm the one over thinking it. I've been on a sports-race thought process lately.

 

[CP87]

I find this to be very interesting too. I always wonder about what where the evolutionary pressures that led to these differences, I always wondered if the practice of persistence hunting didn't lead to endurance some groups display.

I am sure that has something to do with it, especially since the distance talent is not spread throughout Eastern Africa, but rather focused within a small number of tribes.

The sociological factors are interesting as well.

We have more people descended from West Africa in the US than Jamaica does, but Jamaica has 4 of the top 5 fastest 100m athletes of all time (and they have all competed within the last 2 years). Are our fastest athletes getting siphoned off by football and basketball? Are they not as driven? I heard a theory a few years back that wondered if our sprinters were too bulky. Specifically, pretty much all of our fast guys, even the ones who stick with track long-term, play football as youths, and at some point are asked to pack on some pounds. Is this having a detrimental impact on our sprinting? Then again, Yohan Carter is pretty yoked, and he is the 2nd fastest man in the world right now.

And the Eastern Africans run a ridiculous amount growing up as part of their daily lives. If you transplant a bunch of young scandinavians (who have been shown to have equally high VO2max levels) into that culture, would they outpace their scandinavian brethren living at home?

 

[CP87]

CP, I'm at a loss how you can say it's not about color. For something that's allegedly about ancestry you sure used the words caucasian/white quite a few times. If you really want to catch my attention find similar information/research on the fastest black swimmer, use the words black/african american a number of times, then tell me it's all about ancestory.

I probably shouldn't have used the word "white," but I thought it was catchier in a title. But caucasian is not a color, it is an ancestry. I could have also said, "of European ancestry" I suppose.

The reason I say it is not about skin color is because there are many people around the globe with dark-complected skin. Pretty much anyone descended from the continent of Africa, with the exception of some parts of norther Africa, would be considered black. However, it is a small minority of these "black" individuals who have shown an extreme proclivity to dominating the 100m dash in track and field.

Likewise, it is a completely different, but equally small, subset of "black" athletes that have dominated distance running.

It seems that you are taking some offense to the discussion, which is of course your right. However, I don't see anything offensive about noticing trends, even if they do involve race. Pretending that the trends don't exist, or thinking that the trends should not be mentioned, seems more close-minded to me.

 

[CP87]

If you really want to catch my attention find similar information/research on the fastest black swimmer

Probably Cullen Jones, for what it is worth, considering he is one of the fastest guys in the world in the 50m and 100m, and about the only non-European to make a final in London (the guy from China that dominated the 1500m will be a force to be reckoned with in the future).

 

[schatz247]

If you really want to catch my attention find similar information/research on the fastest black swimmer

Probably Cullen Jones, for what it is worth, considering he is one of the fastest guys in the world in the 50m and 100m, and about the only non-European to make a final in London (the guy from China that dominated the 1500m will be a force to be reckoned with in the future).

There were a handful of guys from Brazil, Australia and South Africa that made finals. If memory serves, non of those countries are in Europe.

 

[CP87]

There were a handful of guys from Brazil, Australia and South Africa that made finals. If memory serves, non of those countries are in Europe.

But their swimmers were still of European descent, just like all of the American swimmers (save Cullen Jones) are of European descent.

 

[kirby]

This seems like a strange topic--certainly cannot argue the fact that the Jamaicans seem to do very well in sprints, east Africans longer distances, etc.

That said, don't forget Kevin Little from the D.M. area. Iowan, and world t & f champ in 200m. also performed well in 100m. He made pretty good $ i'm guessing on the european circuit.

Kevin Little - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia