Jamaican sprinters

robfosters

robfosters

robfosters

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I always wondered why they were so fast, then I heard this explanation and was wondering if you thought it could be true or it is a load of rubbish.

Apparently, when the slave trade started shipping slaves by boat from Africa, they went via Britain and across the Atlantic to the US. Then they went down to the Caribbean and the last stop was Jamaica. They were crammed in so badly like cargo that conditions were horrendous and many, many died. Only the strongest survived, they were the ones that reached Jamaica and over the years, these strong specimens enriched the gene pool of Jamaica to a level where it produced the superb athletes it does.

Sound plausible or not?
 

Spenty

Spenty

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robfosters said:
I always wondered why they were so fast, then I heard this explanation and was wondering if you thought it could be true or it is a load of rubbish.

Apparently, when the slave trade started shipping slaves by boat from Africa, they went via Britain and across the Atlantic to the US. Then they went down to the Caribbean and the last stop was Jamaica. They were crammed in so badly like cargo that conditions were horrendous and many, many died. Only the strongest survived, they were the ones that reached Jamaica and over the years, these strong specimens enriched the gene pool of Jamaica to a level where it produced the superb athletes it does.

Sound plausible or not?
Click to expand...

Considering the only sport they stand out in really is sprinting and I doubt they did much sprinting on the ships I call this theory bull****.
 

Racerdude

Racerdude

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Well Jamaica hasn't won a single medal yet, I think sprinting is the only sport they concentrate on that is why they are so successful at it. I imagine it's fairly cheap to fund in comparison to other sports.
 

Judgeneo

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robfosters said:
I found this, Michael Johnson thinks it could be right.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/...-the-fastest/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1
Click to expand...

This explains things quite well.

Basically the theory is:
Jamaica was the last spot on the slave trading line, so only the fittest could survive the journey. Slave owners forced breeding between the strongest slaves. Slaves were taken from all over Africa, so the offspring on slaves are very genetically diverse and in a sense mixed race, and mixed race people tend to be better athletes.
Jamaica does nothing but sprint, if every person in the country sprints, the likelihood of finding a world class sprinter is obviously far higher
 

Racerdude

Racerdude

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I don't understand all the fuss about Usain Bolt. Is he just playing around because his times lately have been terrible. 10.09 seconds that put him behind a lot of people.
 
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