To wonder what Black athletes have....

[CrispyCod]

......that make them so superior in performance. It has to be genetic. I am in awe of them as they appear to glide effortlessly around the track. The Jamaican athletes are just wow! Their speed is just amazing.

Black people have strength. Inner strength through all the shit they have been put through and still are being put through today.

Survivors 100 per cent.

russian women won quite a few medals, Gold in 400m hurdles and 800m race, and other medals non gold, also Ukrainians, also in jumps, so how would you explain that?

well, I suppose 'survivors' and 'being put through shit' applies to russians from working class background especially, and women more so..

Not really Likea. I believe that black people are superior in strength, esp inner strength than any other race in this world.

Their strength is like no other.

Amazing people.

fucking hell sostressedsostressed

Massive generalisation. They're just like any other colour.

I don't understand why it's either people shooting them down or arse licking them. Black skinned people are just like us so stop creating a divide. There's strong and weak people of all races, no point spouting this 'inner strength' malarky.

'them' sounds awful but you know what I mean.

The irish have won Boxing and Equestrian medals - does that mean we are just naturally better adapted to ridin' and fightin'

yes, probably

ah, keep the sterotypes running stressed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If it's all about persecution and inner strength, does that mean all the medal winners are Jewish as well? It is tremendously patronising to lump 'Black people' together as if the experience of a young man in the USA is the same as an old lady in Somalia.

"....their bodies are built 'all wrong' for water"

nurse bernard, creighton, ghostship - I could kiss you all.

It really is creepy I'm not quite sure why it is, but it is. Anyone else who is my colour would understand. It's not the paralells that are creepy; Kenyans' being good at running per se. It's the 'let's talk about this until the cows come home' attitude.

'White' people are good at swimming. I can bet you my last cent that if I started a post on it, it would show no interest.

Like someone said, if we're not being shot, we're being ass licked.

As you were...

Yesterday, my two year old daughter was asleep in her pushchair. Some person (who happened to be white) said 'Oh, I bet she's going to be the next olympic gold medallist'.

I said this thread was racist ages ago and everyone told me I was talking shite

thnaks stressedohstressed for proving me right!

Race doesn't actually exist at a biological level. It's a social construct. Most of you are talking utter utter bollocks.

music it annoyed me, like you were some sort of specimen to be examined by white people.
I know people might not have meant it like that but I can see why it is creepy to you, because I wouldn't like it if it were done to me.

It's not even that some of the comments on here are racist per se (although many of them are shining examples of off-the-cuff, thoughtless casual racism); it's that they're a bit rude and, well, entitled...

People thinking they have every right to have this discussion without the annoyance of the people making up the subject matter taking some umbrage = entitled.

And many (not all) people from a certain privileged standpoint who've never been in the opposing situation simply just will not 'get' that.

My point about Australians discussing the whys and wherefores of British people and history was trying (obviously feebly) to illustrate this point. It isn't just racism. It's also common or garden rudeness - albeit unintentionally.

If you can't understand how people might get a bit defensive when other people discuss them (regardless of whether it's in a negative or patronising positive way), then you can't have much empathy or understanding of feelings. Kind of how you might talk about your own family a certain way, but woe betide anyone else who does. The same principle on a greater scale.

But by all means - if people's need to have the discussion is The Most Important Thing here - carry on...

There has been a LOT of really interesting historical stuff that I never knew about- and intend to look into in greater detail -before I opened this thread. I'd like to thank the OP for being balsy enough to start this thread. It's been really informative.

I'm off to the library tomorrow. Can anyone suggest to me any related reading on the points made about breeding in slavery etc?

So you don't think misconceptions about genes and race should be challenged in case someone gets upset?

You don''t think those of using science in trying to explain that sporting success is to do with genes and environment but not ethnicity, should not have challenged the frankly racist misconceptions of many above posts because it is rude and entitled to do so?

We should just let it stand?

aeryn, the person who posted this is sloppy and ignorant not ballsy. most of the comments on here are sloppy and ignorant including yours. it has not been informative, just par for the course lazy, white, unthinking nonsense with most of you passing your nonsense off as 'science'.

'breeding in slavery'
Could you be anymore detached? You say it as though you're talking about animals.

Matthew Syed has researched this.

• Many black people have twitchy muscle gene, but so do a large % of people of European origin (off the sofa folks!)
• Black people are not good runners, a tiny subset of people from a few countries and regions within those countries have become good runners. Skin colour is a visible but unimportant difference between black and white people when it comes to athletic prowess.
• Recommend his book "Bounce" for anyone interested in settling this argument once and for all!

creighton I'm asking for related reading and looking the subject up because I want to look into it to see wether the points raised about slavery etc can be validated or dismissed. I'm very interested in that.

I've said that I didn't know anything about any of this which was me admitting my ignorance in the subject. I only posted to see if anyone could suggest some books to help me in my understanding. Sloppy and ignorant it may be, but when I know (and have said) that I'm starting out with no knowledge, by the time I've read a few books I'll be a bit more informed.

All I wanted was a few books to help with that. What's the problem? If you intend to hang on my calling the OP bally, I do think she was. She didn't know something so she asked a question based on what she thought she knew. Which is how we learn.

'breeding in slavery'
Could you be anymore detached? You say it as though you're talking about animals.

ghost ship I thought this too, but it makes you look at in the terms of how our anscestors looked on anyone who wasn't white. Like animals, as you say. It impressed on me again the chills I first felt down my spine watching Roots and seeing how these poor people were treated.

It can only be good to be reminded of that. It's the reason I want t go to read about it in the first place.