A year after this vid was made Michael Johnson came out and declared that black people were fast from slavery.
wow. what bullshit. it just amazes me how STUPID most coaches are, and how stupid exercise science can be. I'm taking a biomechanics class right now, and we're being taught completely wrong bullshit.
But again to respond to your point Raptor, your leg may be behind you at one point in your stride, but as it cycles, it will move to under the hip...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHG5vB8hX4E
pause at any point during the race and watch how his leg trails behind him. pause at 00:24 for instance. In fact with his form he probably has greater backside mechanics than other sprinters. I think T0dday would be able to answer that well.
Again from personal experience, the best way to improve running form is from sprinting at top velocity but if running form isn't good there, working on heavy runnign specific strength training exericses, like single leg hypers.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2167064/London-2012-Olympics-Michael-Johnson-descendants-slaves-medals-sprint-finals.html#ixzz1zn71SMc8Survival of the fastest
Why descendants of slaves will take the medals in the London 2012 sprint finals
Olympic champion Michael Johnson says black American and Caribbean sprinters have a 'superior athletic gene'
All eight finalists in the 2008 Olympic 100m final are believed to have been descended from slaves
By Sally Beck
UK daily mail
1 July 2012
Legacy: Michael Johnson, pictured in Jamaica, says black American and Caribbean sprinters have a 'superior athletic gene'
Olympic legend Michael Johnson says a ‘superior athletic gene’ in the descendants of West African slaves means black American and Caribbean sprinters will command the sport at the London Games.
The Olympic gold medallist and BBC commentator said: ‘Over the last few years, athletes of Afro- Caribbean and Afro-American descent have dominated athletics finals.
‘It’s a fact that hasn’t been discussed openly before. It’s a taboo subject in the States but it is what it is. Why shouldn’t we discuss it?’
Reigning Olympic 100m champion Usain Bolt was born in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica, where British Olympic boss Lord Coe’s plantation-owning ancestor George Hyde Park had 297 slaves.
Of the eight 100m finalists four years ago, three were Jamaicans, two came from Trinidad and Tobago, two were Afro-American and one, representing the Netherlands, was born on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao. All eight are believed to be descended from slaves.
Johnson says: ‘It is currently being researched to see how much of a factor being descended from slaves contributes to athletic ability.’
Taboo: Usain Bolt (right), pictured winning the Olympic 100m final in Beijing in 2008, was born in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica, where British Olympic boss Lord Coe¿s plantation-owning ancestor George Hyde Park had 297 slaves.
Some scientists believe a combination of selective breeding by slave owners and appalling conditions meant that only the strongest slaves endured, creating a group predisposed to record-breaking athletic performance.
African slaves underwent a rigorous selection process and only the fittest were transported on ships.
Interestingly, the toughest journey was to Jamaica, the last stop on the slave trail.
During one voyage in 1732, a staggering 96 per cent of slaves lost their lives – 170 boarded the ship and only six got off.
Jamaican geneticist Dr Rachael Irving said: ‘There was not much oxygen on slave ships so they had to use whatever they had to survive.’
Dr Herb Elliott, doctor to the Jamaican Olympic team, added: ‘Only the most aggressive and fiercest slaves ended up in Jamaica.’
Johnson, 44, had a DNA test for a Channel 4 documentary, Michael Johnson: Survival Of The Fastest, to be screened on Thursday night, which confirmed he is of West African descent.
He said: ‘All my life I believed I became an athlete through my own determination, but it’s impossible to think that being descended from slaves hasn’t left an imprint through the generations.
‘Difficult as it was to hear, slavery has benefited descendants like me – I believe there is a superior athletic gene in us.’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcDE9WakiXU