Why is Cuban sprinting so poor?

[Track fan]

Maybe I just remember their medal winners, but when I compare their population size to Jamaica there is no comparison in medals won. Even if you count the middle and throwing medals that Cuba wins they still don't fare as well as Jamaica. Is baseball taking away diamonds in the rough from track?

[piaba]

well, you gotta remember that cuba is very with the hurdles, HJ, TJ and the throws. also it's a very poor country. jamaicans on the other hand are all US-trained.

considering what the cubans got to work with and the size of their population, they are doing astonishingly well.

[Omega4ul]

well, you gotta remember that cuba is very with the hurdles, HJ, TJ and the throws. also it's a very poor country. jamaicans on the other hand are all US-trained.

considering what the cubans got to work with and the size of their population, they are doing astonishingly well.

I think it is amazing that this 'poor country' excels in the technical events. Generally you think they would put more attention and do better in the events that require less equipment. In CAC Competions Cuba wins the medal race in the field events. I do believe they have a young star in the Hurdles

I dont think it is a fair to say that Jamaicans are US trained when they have a great High Performance Training Center.

[Thor]

As well as the MVP track club, with Powell, Frater, Simpson, Foster-Hylton etc.

[Powell]

I think it is amazing that this 'poor country' excels in the technical events. Generally you think they would put more attention and do better in the events that require less equipment. In CAC Competions Cuba wins the medal race in the field events. I do believe they have a young star in the Hurdles.

We're not talking Formula 1 here. T&F isn't enormously expensive compared to most sports. Even a relatively poor country can succeed, especially in a country like Cuba where the government cares about sports success and is willing to invest money in it.
And, if they want to maximize the number of WCh/OG medals per dollar spent, I actually think technical events may give better return on investment since they're less globally competitive than running events. IMO the reason why most developing countries don't have field eventers is not cost, but lack of tradition and coaching know-how.

[knockout]

Following on from what Powell says, Cuba had a lot of coaches from USSR back in the day who worked with the cuban team and the knowledge has been passed on to the current cuban coaches..

from a boxing perspective, Cuban Teofilo stevenson, arguably the greatest amateur boxer ever was coached by soviets ;-)

[Track fan]

As a side note Stevenson was half Jamaican........ :lol:

[gh]

Re: Why is Cuban sprinting so poor?

Maybe I just remember their medal winners, but when I compare their population size to Jamaica there is no comparison in medals won.

I can't claim to know the racial makeup of each of the nations, but the Entinian answer to this would be that Cuba has a smaller West African gene pool than does Jamaica, so in terms of "relevant" population, Jamaica might be much larger?

[dj]

For whatever reason, Cuba was developing "world class" (see the other thread for definitions ) about 20 years earlier than Jamaica. Cuba's first major sprinters pop up in the late teens (Jose Barrientos coming along in around 1923), Jamaica's first is probably Al Brown in around 1939.