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The only athletes in the world who have run 100 metres in less than 10 seconds are all of West African descent. Does that prove, as Jon Entine controversially argues, that race determines athletic success? And is it racist to say so?
Here's a safe prediction: all of the athletes who line up for the final of the men's 100 metre sprint in Sydney can trace their primary ancestry to West Africa. Further, it's unlikely that any sprinter other than one with West African roots will ever again hold the unofficial title of "world's fastest human".
Remarkably, as equality of opportunity in sports has increased over the past 30 years, equality of results on the playing field has declined: elite sports are actually becoming more segregated, reflecting the differences in body type and physiology found, on average, in different populations.
What's behind this trend?
Scientists are beginning to deconstruct the mystery of human performance: the intricate relationship between population genetics - average differences between populations shaped over many thousands of years of evolution - and environment. Robert Malina, an anthropologist at Michigan State University and the editor of the American Journal of Human Biology, has studied more than 50 years of athletic performances and come to this conclusion: "Differences among athletes of elite calibre are so small that if you have a physique or the ability to fire muscle fibres more efficiently, which might be genetically based ... it might be very, very significant. The fraction of a second is the difference between the gold medal and fourth place."
Reams of studies definitively show that genetically linked, highly heritable characteristics such as skeletal structure, the distribution of muscle fibre types, reflex capabilities, metabolic efficiency, lung capacity, and the ability to use energy more efficiently are not evenly distributed among populations and cannot be explained by known environmental factors. Humans are truly diverse, biologically and culturally. Although scientists are only just starting to isolate the genetic links to those biologically based differences, it is indisputable that they exist. Each sport demands a slightly different mix of biomechanical, anaerobic and aerobic abilities, and athletes from each region of the world tend to excel in specific events. Whites of Eurasian ancestry, who have, on average, more natural upper body strength, predictably dominate weightlifting and field events such as the shot-put and hammer (whites hold 46 of the top 50 throws). Where flexibility is key, as in diving and some skating and gymnastic events, East Asians shine (hence the term "Chinese splits").
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