Secret behind the success of African-descent athletes

Usain Bolt of Jamaica and Justin Gatlin of USA trace their roots back to West Africa

How many of you have ever wondered why African-origin athletes have dominated the world of sports, especially when it comes to athletic events? It’s quite simple actually. Every single one of the 32 athletes who took part in the last four Olympics 100-meters finals traced their origin to West Africa, including the current World’s fastest man Jamaican Usain Bolt and his fiercest competitor American Justin Gatlin.

It’s just not the hyped 100-meters event which is dominated by the blacks. Almost all of the other track events in the likes of 200-meters, 1500-meters, 3000-meters steeplechase, 5000-meters, 10000-meters and the marathon are dominated by African-origin athletes till date.

Although, different events are dictated over by athletes originating from different parts of the dry continent, ultimately it is the sportsmen of African bloodline who come out top in the sporting world. The question that arises now is WHY?

Well, the answer lies within the blood and genes. Each sport demands a slightly different mix of biomechanical, anaerobic and aerobic abilities. Genetically-linked and hereditary characteristics such as skeletal structure, distribution of muscle fiber types, reflex capabilities, metabolic efficiency, lung capacity and the ability to use energy more efficiently makes black athletes more adaptable to such types of sports as sprinting and long distance running.

Let’s take a detailed look at how these characteristics are defined in athletes of West African ancestry:

1) West African people have a higher percentage of fast-twitch muscles and more anaerobic enzymes, which can be readily converted into more explosive energy.

2) They possess relatively less subcutaneous fat on arms and legs and instead have more lean body and muscle mass, broader shoulders and larger quadriceps. In general, they boast a bigger and developed muscular system.

3) They exhibit a higher center of gravity, relatively shorter sitting height, narrower hips and lighter calves which aids in running over extended distances.

4) The reason behind their superior ability to accelerate is due to faster patellar tendon reflexes.

Characteristic features such as the ones mentioned above gives athletes of West African lineage an upper hand in such anaerobic activities as football, basketball and sprinting which is more or less their stronghold.

However, this physique poses problems for sportsmen who wish to participate in sports such as swimming or other cold-weather and endurance sports as heavier skeletons and smaller chest cavities could be drags-on performance.