Sprinter reignites debate over correlation between race, speed

[TrooperBari]

Even if he has no intention of taking part in the debate himself:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jul/26/european-championships-christophe-lemaitre

When Christophe Lemaitre ran 9.98sec at the French national championships this month, the headlines read: First white man to break the 10-second barrier.

At 20 years old, the Annecy-born athlete is the third fastest sprinter in history for his age group – having run faster than the former world record-holder Asafa Powell and the former double world champion Tyson Gay did at his age – but the media seemed far more interested in his race.

Lemaitre's achievement prompted a discussion with an uncomfortable theme in the French press. Le Monde wrote: "It has launched an old and controversial debate that can be summarised by the question: Do black people run faster than white people and if so, why?"

Kid came a few years too late for Jimmy the Greek, unfortunately.

 

[mustangj17]

I'm beginning to get excited for the 100 and 200 meter dashes at the 2012 olympics; and this only ads to it. As dominant as Usain Bolt was and still is, I'm not convinced that he can't be beaten.

 

[spnited]

I'm beginning to get excited for the 100 and 200 meter dashes at the 2012 olympics; and this only ads to it. As dominant as Usain Bolt was and still is, I'm not convinced that he can't be beaten.

You realize Bolt's record is 9.58 and this kid ran 9.98...that's a huge difference in a 100.

 

[Stoney]

Not discussing it would only be ignoring the pink elephant in the room. Nobody of non-African descent has ever run that fast before. It's the only thing that made the race noteworthy and no doubt the first thing everybody who saw it thought about. I don't see anything particularly Greek-ish about addressing the obvious.

As for the "old and controversial debate", I think all of us who've played sports or been paying attention over the years know the obvious answer. At least how it works out on average. As for "why", who cares? It is what it is. "Why" is a question best left unanswered. And those who've tried are the ones who've ****ed up their careers with ignorant Greek type statements.

 

[Clerk Typist]

The answers are: 1. Generally, yes. 2. Nobody knows.

 

[YankeeFan]

Who's the fastest player in Major League Baseball?

I'm having a hard time thinking of someone faster than Brett Gardner.

 

[qtlaw]

Its all about the time put in.

 

[RickStain]

As for "why", who cares? It is what it is. "Why" is a question best left unanswered.

Hell with that. It's a fascinating question. It just needs to be answered by scientists.

 

[Football_Bat]

Doesn't count. He is a Euro.

 

[mustangj17]

I'm beginning to get excited for the 100 and 200 meter dashes at the 2012 olympics; and this only ads to it. As dominant as Usain Bolt was and still is, I'm not convinced that he can't be beaten.

Yes. I also realize this kid has two more years, and still he will probably only be ranked 6th at best. You've got an American who is the second fastest man in the history of the world. Nobody even thinks of that. It's going to be good.


You realize Bolt's record is 9.58 and this kid ran 9.98...that's a huge difference in a 100.

 

[Boomer7]

As for "why", who cares? It is what it is. "Why" is a question best left unanswered.

Hell with that. It's a fascinating question. It just needs to be answered by scientists.

The problem is, there's a long, shameful history of racist pseudo-science that has poisoned the well. John Hoberman's "Darwin's Athletes" covered that topic quite thoroughly.

 

[Rhody31]

Who's the fastest player in Major League Baseball?

I'm having a hard time thinking of someone faster than Brett Gardner.

Nyjer Morgan.
Andrew McCutcheon.
Ellsbury (when he's not crying about his ribs).
Emilio Bonafacio.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Who's the fastest player in Major League Baseball?

I'm having a hard time thinking of someone faster than Brett Gardner.

Nyjer Morgan.
Andrew McCutcheon.
Ellsbury (when he's not crying about his ribs).
Emilio Bonafacio.

Carl Crawford.

 

[Dick Whitman]

We can all name the Gardners and Podsedniks and Urlachers and, before them, Brady Andersons of the sports world who are lightning-fast white guys. But the exceptions do not prove the rule. Over an enormous sampling size of athletes, it is not inaccurate to say that black athletes absolutely dominate the speed positions, particularly cornerback and running back in the NFL.

Check out the list of all-time stolen base leaders. You have to go all the way down to Brett Butler at 24th to find a white guy whose career began after World War I.

 

[mustangj17]

We can all name the Gardners and Podsedniks and Urlachers and, before them, Brady Andersons of the sports world who are lightning-fast white guys. But the exceptions do not prove the rule. Over an enormous sampling size of athletes, it is not inaccurate to say that black athletes absolutely dominate the speed positions, particularly cornerback and running back in the NFL.

Check out the list of all-time stolen base leaders. You have to go all the way down to Brett Butler at 24th to find a white guy whose career began after World War I.

No love for Tim Dwight or Wes Welker I see.

 

[Dick Whitman]

We can all name the Gardners and Podsedniks and Urlachers and, before them, Brady Andersons of the sports world who are lightning-fast white guys. But the exceptions do not prove the rule. Over an enormous sampling size of athletes, it is not inaccurate to say that black athletes absolutely dominate the speed positions, particularly cornerback and running back in the NFL.

Check out the list of all-time stolen base leaders. You have to go all the way down to Brett Butler at 24th to find a white guy whose career began after World War I.

No love for Tim Dwight or Wes Welker I see.

Again: Exceptions.

The fact that people can come on here and toss out the names of a handful of blazer white guys doesn't prove anything. It reminds me of the other thread where someone used Mike Williams' two All-Star selections as proof that All-Star selections aren't a good Hall of Fame criteria. You have to operate with a large sample size to get a good picture of anything, and the large sample size in this case clearly tells an almost irrefutable story.

Also, as far as Welker goes, notice that I didn't say wide receiver.

 

[Stoney]

Not sure who you're arguing to, ****, has anyone here actually denied it?

Despite how that article labels it, I don't believe this is really much of a "debatable" question anymore. Everybody knows it's generally true, it's just something we avoid directly saying, and instead we pretend it's debatable, because it touches on such sensitive areas. And most of us didn't need to look at the NFL or "sample sizes", I figured it out when I started competing against African Americans and going to camps as a kid. I'm sure the same applies to others here. Just how it is.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Not sure who you're arguing to, ****, has anyone here actually denied it?

Despite how that article labels it, I don't believe this is really much of a "debatable" question anymore. Everybody knows it's generally true, it's just something we avoid directly saying, and instead we pretend it's debatable, because it touches on such sensitive areas. And most of us didn't need to look at the NFL or "sample sizes", I figured it out when I started competing against African Americans and going to camps as a kid. I'm sure the same applies to others here. Just how it is.

Well, people keep naming fast white guys. I understood that as an attempt to indicate that there isn't a racial component to speed.

 

[exmediahack]

I don't know what it is about speed and race...

but I have an 8-year-old. He's in great shape, very athletic, hardly any fat to drag him down.

My little guy also can't stay within 3 steps of the African-American kids his age in basketball. The only aspects that keep me encouraging him at basketball are that a) he loves it and b) he has been medically projected to be in the 6'6'-6'9" range.

Otherwise, in the spring, he plays baseball. Why? He's a lefty and loves to pitch.

In life, go where your strengths are and try to avoid your weaknesses - unless you HAVE to overcome them, then tackle weaknesses head on.

 

[Double J]

Who's the fastest player in Major League Baseball?

I'm having a hard time thinking of someone faster than Brett Gardner.

Nyjer Morgan.
Andrew McCutcheon.
Ellsbury (when he's not crying about his ribs).
Emilio Bonafacio.

Carl Crawford.

Bengie Molina.

Oh sure. You think you could leg out a triple to complete the cycle? Afterburner Bengie did. ;)