How does race play into the Olympics

O

OrangeBlooded

500+ Posts
or for sport for that matter? Seriously, when will a white guy when a 100, 200 meter sprint? Or when will a black guy win a 50m freestyle swimming event? A friend of mine, who is trying out for the deaf olympic cycling team, got to talking about it. How and why does race play into certain sports and events? If there aren't any differences in genetic makeup, why is it there is a noticeable trend?

I know "fast twitch and slow twitch" muscles have something to do with it, but it seems that doesn't apply to swimming???

anyways, it was food for thought earlier.
 
On average black people will have a lower body fat percentage. Swimmers need a little bit of body fat to remain or they will sink. Ever notice that swimmers don't have huge bulging muscles.
 
Ever been up close to a swimmer, they have almost no body fat...i dated a swimmer at UT when i was there, there parties were fun and none of them have any fat, they may not look as defined because of various factors but there fat percentage is the lowest of almost any sport.

Competive Swimming and Body Fat

Swimming is one of the best ways-probably the ideal way-to reduce body fat. Because it utilizes fat as fuel, aerobic exercise reduces body fat at the same time as it enhances cardiovascular conditioning, and swim training is the anaerobic exercise par excellence.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has spent any time at all around a pool deck. Even with their strong upper-body muscular development, swimmers of all ages carry very little body fat. In fact, Olympic swimmers have close to the lowest body fat percentages of any athletes: about 6 percent for men and 12 percent for women.
 
I was under the impression that swimming wasn't optimal when it came to losing body fat. The reason being that the water depletes your body heat faster, thus making the body hold onto fat reserves.

Am I completely wrong?
 
I have not read Taboo yet, but I will. However years ago the book, Necessities by Phillip Hoose came out. It argued that all over America, blacks were not allowed to compete in any field; however black athletes showed that they could not just compete, but could surpass white athletes. So in spite of discrimination, the black athlete overcame white racism and excelled in sports. But then the author takes the position that it was not b/c of black genetic giftedness, but because of hard work at overcoming the odds.

I've never understood how the author and those that touted this book could not see the obvious lapse in logic. If blacks overcame the odds in sports in spite of white racism, where 13% of the population is black but 65% of pro football players are black and 80% of basketball players are black, but the reason for this has NOTHING to do with genetics but only with hard work; then why can't blacks at 13% population be more than 13% doctors, lawyers, etc? Why can't blacks overcome this supposed racism and become 65% of our doctors and lawyers? If blacks faced across the board discrimination in every field, but ONLY managed to show a disproportionate advantage in one field (sports), then how can you not come to the conclusion that it is genetics? Everyone is afraid to say that. And it is NOT because whites are afraid to say that, it is because everyone is TERRIFIED to say that the opposite might also be true; that blacks have a slight edge physically but are at a slight disadvantage intellectually. Even if this proves not to be true, we all must recognize that this possibility is not even allowed on the table for discussion in most circles.

If the argument is that blacks are "poor" and this is their only way to success (which doesn't hold water), then why are we not seeing world record holders in the 100m dash by people in Bangladesh?

ONLY blacks have run the 100M dash in less than 10 seconds. Non-blacks have won races. Non-blacks have even won the Olympic 100M. But no non-black has ever run the 100M in less than 10 seconds. Yeah, right, it's not genetics.

If at this point in history blacks have a slight edge in certain sports and a slight disadvantage in certain fields of study, why the hell can that not at least be put on the table for debate?
 
Not only that, but when you say blacks you're talking about a particular set of blacks who share ancestry from a particular region of Africa. You're not specific enough. After all you're not talking about blacks who hail from eastern, central, or southern Africa. So making some broad general statement about "blacks" is no more accurate than if I said all whites are tall when I should specifally say people from the Netherlands seem to share a genetic trait which makes them tall.
 
4realhorn, I don't know if you are standing on your own in objection to some things I said, or if you think you are in agreement with Pickles, but Pickles would not agree with your observation. If he doesn't believe in race differences b/c he does not believe in different races, then he certainly would not be on board that those from West Africa are better at sprinting and those from East Africa are better at distant runs, etc. Races don't exist for him. But as for your observation, I am certainly aware of the differences between the accomplishments of those who trace their linage to West Africa, East Africa, Northeast Asians, Northern Europeans, etc. I just didn't get specific in my first remarks b/c I was viewing it primarily through the lens of American and Jamaican sprinters. All of who trace their linage back to West African descent. (Which is one of the things the book Taboo was pointing out apparently.)

Pickles, you are arguing the zero group differences stand. It is wholly without merit. Tell you what, why don't you read a few of the following:

"Race and Conservatism" in the New English Review, Sept. 2006.
"Created Equal" on Slate, Nov. 18, 2007
"None of the Above" in The New Yorker, Dec. 17, 2007
Gene Expression, Oct. 31, 2007
"Black Athletes: Can Whites Measure Up?" in La Griffe du Lion, Volume 2 Number 1, Jan. 2000

I doubt you will take the time to research this since you have yet to provide anything to back up your claims. A few things peer reviewed would be nice. But I did like your proof of swimmers having the lowest body fat percentage. You provided a link to a PICTURE of a skinny swimmer. Good Lord!!!!
 
The problem is we don't wholly understand genetics in regards to geographically shared traits. How do we measure someone's "blackness? Is black skin the determinant? Or is it geography? Take someone like Jason Kidd who for the sake of argument is more than 50% "white". What percentage of "white" genes will nullify his supposedly superior athletic "black" genes? We discuss race & ethnic traits as if we have any clue as to what we actually mean. Most of our knowledged (at least with regard to the topic discussed here) is based on observational data.

I'm sure 2000 years ago the most renowned scientist of the time were all pretty satisfied with the belief that the world was flat. It was a reasonable conclusion given the evidence available to them. In fact it probably wasn't questioned due the certainty (read: obvious nature) of their conclusion. Afterall, they could see all of the necessary evidence right before them. No need for them to delve deeper.
 
In an attempt to do more than post in this thread for my own amusement, I’m looking for a study that I have failed to find.

The basic conclusion of the study was that there was strong psychological (sociological) impact regarding race and performance related to athletic and intelligence based testing.

Two groups of men containing equal amounts of black and white were given a test that somewhat resembled golf/basketball. The group that was told the test was an “intelligence” test showed the whites outperforming the blacks. The other group was told it was an “athletic” test. In this group the blacks outperformed the whites. Same test for both – just promoted differently.

A very interesting study, and I hope to find it later. I’ll post if I do, or hope that someone else is able to locate it. It goes back to the whole 4 minute mile thing. Once someone broke the record, tons of people did it. If you look at “fratboy legend’s” post – that could cost you a split second as a white athlete and put a deeply buried psychological barrier to your performance.


(I wrote this post in a rush, so I hope it made sense without too many errors)
 
50m freestyle American record holder as of 1 month ago:

Proof-%20a%20black%20swimmer.jpg
 
We should also have a thread on Women's butts. Quiz: Which race has the pancake ***, which has the bubble butt and which is in-between?
 
I am searching for his name, but the white guy who won the 100 meters was a Russian. He dominated the sport for several years.
 
fratboy - well done. however, since we are talking stats, you're debunking the theory with outliers. i probably should have been more specific. Why does the USA have black sprinters and white long distance runners while kenya would kill the whities in long distance, but yet no sprinters? Why are most olympic swimmers white and most olympic sprinters black? My point is why don't we see a consistent mix of color among the sports? Is color a pre-disposition to athletic talent? I don't think so, but why does the trend continue as such?
 
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