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I just picked up this tweet from @Scienceofsport (Ross Tucker and Jonathan Dugas):
Quote:
If you don't have the genes, training or culture will have minimal impact. If you don't have the training system/culture, you waste the genes
This lead me to this Ross Tuckers recent publication:
What makes champions? A review of the relative contribution of genes and training to sporting success
Ross Tucker & Malcolm Collins Br J Sports Med 2012;46:555-561
Quote:
Elite sporting performance results from the combination of innumerable factors, which interact with one another in a poorly understood but complex manner to mould a talented athlete into a champion. Within the field of sports science, elite performance is understood to be the result of both training and genetic factors. However, the extent to which champions are born or made is a question that remains one of considerable interest, since it has implications for talent identification and management, as well as for how sporting federations allocate scarce resources towards the optimisation of high-performance programmes. The present review describes the contributions made by deliberate practice and genetic factors to the attainment of a high level of sporting performance. The authors conclude that although deliberate training and other environmental factors are critical for elite performance, they cannot by themselves produce an elite athlete. Rather, individual performance thresholds are determined by our genetic make-up, and training can be defined as the process by which genetic potential is realised. Although the specific details are currently unknown, the current scientific literature clearly indicates that both nurture and nature are involved in determining elite athletic performance. In conclusion, elite sporting performance is the result of the interaction between genetic and training factors, with the result that both talent identification and management systems to facilitate optimal training are crucial to sporting success.
__________________ Craig Payne
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________ Follow me on Twitter | Run Junkie God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
Re: Elite athletic performance: Genes, culture or training?
Interesting topic.
I use to think that training & environment played a big part in performance (compared to genetics) - I still do to varying degrees. Now I'm coming from distance running perspective where there are no short cuts to success - you just simply need to do the hard yards to get the results.
However, of late I have wondered on this topic where I have to acknowledge the heavy influence of genetics - some events probably more so than others. For want of a better analogy... a V8 engine will usually out perform a V6... influences such as this will be more obvious in some events. In Kenya & Ethiopia there is obviously a large genetic pool of conducive distance running genes but there is also a great environment to nurture that genetic pool via the environment (high altitude, nature of lifestyle, diet, cultural influences, successful peers etc...) & the fact that they also have a great training environment where young runners can train side by side Olympic champions, world champions, world record holders & about 10, 20, 30 sub 30min. 10km runners or sub 2:10 marathoners - this would be enough to inspire any young athlete to believe in him/herself. If Australian & European athletes had this training environment then we will see much better results. America of late has been focussing on this aspect & is now starting to get some good results for the distance events. I think Australia, Europe & USA have the genetic talent (probably not the same depth of East Africa) but these areas also don’t have the optimal environment & training systems to attract & nurture that talent to world class performances.
One only has to watch an athlete like Usain Bolt to see the genetic talent he has for the 100 & 200m. One only has to see a runner like David Rudisha to see the clear genetic talent he has for the 800m. David is pretty much a certainty for winning the gold medal for the 800m this Thursday at the Olympics... he looks strong & moves extremely well...
Now there’s genetic talent being expressed... great biomechanics, great engine (great 800m package)... hardly looked puffed at the end of one of the fastest times in history (& he holds the world record). It would be interesting to see what he could do over 1500m.
However, those not blessed to the same genetic talents of another can still be successful but they certainly need to work at it & make sure they tick all the boxes for a holistic package for optimal performance. I personally feel distance/endurance athletes with lesser genetic talent have a greater chance of winning over someone with greater genetic talent compared to athletes in the shorter distances... probably something worth hypothesising further on.
Re: Elite athletic performance: Genes, culture or training?
Quote:
Originally Posted by BEN-HUR
there are no short cuts to success - you just simply need to do the hard yards to get the results.
Tucker also talks about the 10 000 hrs of training needed to reach the top ..... that is ~3hrs a day for 9-10yrs!
__________________ Craig Payne
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________ Follow me on Twitter | Run Junkie God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
Re: Elite athletic performance: Genes, culture or training?
Getting back to my David Rudisha prediction... well, I'm no fortune teller as he is such a class athlete... but didn't quite expect what eventuated in the Olympic final... a world record (1:40.91) & one of the (if not the) greatest 800m races of all time - the whole field was fast, which is fairly rare for an Olympic race.
One world record, next an African record, National & World Junior record for Botswana, another national record (Ethiopia), 4 personal bests & another season best. 1:42.82 only got you 4th and 1:43:77 last!!
Here is the video. Not sure how long it's going to last as the IOC have already taken down one of the Olympic 800m videos...
Would have to be one of the most gifted athletes on the track... he is such an incredible mover - powerful with great technique!
Re: Elite athletic performance: Genes, culture or training?
Genetics is definitely the best starting point. People of black African origin, whatever country they were born and grew up in, make up most of the starting line ups in the running categories, and the vast majority of the top three winners!
Re: Elite athletic performance: Genes, culture or training?
Here is another new one from the same authors as above: The genetic basis for elite running performance
Ross Tucker, Jordan Santos-Concejero, Malcolm Collins Br J Sports Med 2013;47:545-549
Quote:
The dominance of East African distance runners and sprinters of West African origin invites discussion around the contribution of genetic and lifestyle factors to performance. In this review, we focus on the genetic basis for performance. Previous research associating candidate genes such as ACE and ACTN3 to endurance and sprint performance in Caucasian populations has not been replicated in African populations. This may be influenced by numerous factors, including small sample sizes, comparisons across different ethnic populations and problems identifying appropriate control groups. Conceptually, these failures reveal the complex polygenic nature of physiology and performance, and the erroneous application of a candidate gene approach to more genetically diverse African populations. We argue that research has in fact established a role for genes in performance, and that the frequency, rather than the prevalence, of favourable genetic variants within certain populations may account for the performance dominance in these populations.
__________________ Craig Payne
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________ Follow me on Twitter | Run Junkie God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
The Following User Says Thank You to Craig Payne For This Useful Post:
Re: Elite athletic performance: Genes, culture or training?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig Payne
Here is another new one from the same authors as above: The genetic basis for elite running performance
Ross Tucker, Jordan Santos-Concejero, Malcolm Collins Br J Sports Med 2013;47:545-549
Darn! And I thought that if I ran barefoot like my ancestors that this would make me an elite runner......
__________________
Sincerely,
Kevin
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Kevin A. Kirby, DPM
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Applied Biomechanics
California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt College
Elite athletic performance: Genes, culture or training?
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