User:MoistOpinion/sandbox

Outline:


 * The sport of long-distance running is a highly prevalent success with East African Athletes. The sport of running has been a longstanding tradition in Ethiopia as well as Kenya. Long-distance running is a sport that traditionally many East African have dominated for decades in the olympics. The prevalence of East African athletes winning in the sport of long-distance and marathon running has become a long standing tradition. The athletic success and history of Ethiopian long-distance running athletes dates back to the 1960’s Rome Olympics (Wikipedia link).  Only three of the 40 best ever 10,000 m running times have been recorded by athletes from countries other than Ethiopia and Kenya (SOURCE #4)
 * “During the past two decades the proportion of Male Africans in the all-time top 20 list of middle and long distance running events (800m-marathon) has increased from 26.6 - 84.3% (International Association of Athletic Federations, IAAF, January 2008) **source 3**
 * Several factors have been proposed to explain the extraordinary success of the Kenyan and Ethiopian distance runners, including (1) genetic predisposition, (2) development of a high maximal oxygen uptake as a result of extensive walking and running at an early age, (3) relatively high hemoglobin and hematocrit, (4) development of good metabolic “economy/efficiency” based on somatotype and lower limb characteristics, (5) favorable skeletal-muscle-fiber composition and oxidative enzyme profile, (6) traditional Kenyan/Ethiopian diet, (7) living and training at altitude, and (8) motivation to achieve economic success
 * Wilber, R. L & Pitsiladis, Y. P (2012) Kenyan and Ethiopian Distance Runners: What Makes Them So Good?. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance
 * The overwhelming success of East African Athletes calls upon the arguments of nature vs. nurture.  When considering training regiments and overall endurance levels, many East African runners possess genetic and geographic advantages. Many environmental factors including living at an altitude and childhood training practices, such as running long-distances to school daily, are all linked in some way to the successful racing of East African distance runners.
 * Correlational studies have shown that in the case of Ethiopian distance and marathon runners, the majority of athletes originate from high altitude regions in Ethiopia and as children covered distances of up to 20 km to school (SOURCE SCOTT)
 * It has been determined through comparative studies that Kenyan athletes from childhood that travel by foot to school on a daily basis possess a 30% higher V02 max than  athletes from a variety of other countries (Source Saltin b).
 * The implications of these results suggest that childhood training activities and methodologies are an important factor in the future success and strength of East African distance runners.

Genetic Predispositions


 * In addition to the environmental factors that relate to the success of Ethiopian athletes, it has been postulated that the success of East African athletes is due to genetic predispositions that differentiate them from the majority of elite distance runners throughout the world.
 * Genotype & Mitochondrial Advantage
 * An increased frequency of an allele carrying a 287-bp insertion in an intron of the ACE gene has been observed in some studies of elite endurance athletes (Gayagay et al. 1998; Myerson et al. 1999). Variations of mitochondrial DNA strands have been linked to the increase of human aerobic performance. The ancestral genealogy of Ethiopian Endurance athletes suggest a lineage of mutation in mDNA from mother to child.
 * Scott, R. A. & Yannis P. Pitsiladis (2007), Genotypes and Distance Running: Clues from Africa, International Centre for East African Running Science.
 * Additionally, linkages to the enzyme Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) is linked to an increase in the performance of East African Athletes. The increase in endurance performance is associated with the synthesis of the I allele. Angiotensin Converting Enzyme is associated with increased tolerance to altitude variance. No significant difference is found when identifying genetic frequency between Caucasian and East African Athletes. Further research suggests that a variation of the ACE 1 allele, A22982G, was a significant genealogical variation of this enzyme to prove advantageous to East African Athletes residing in high altitude environments. However no significant difference in frequency was detected (Source).
 * Scott, R. A & Wilson, R. H. (2005) No Association Between Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) Gene Variation and Endurance Athlete Status in Kenyans, Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2005;
 * Scott R. A., Georgiades, E. & Wilson, R. H. (2003) Demographics of Elite Ethiopian Distance Runners, 1727-32)