Nigerian Sprinters

[Half Miler]

I was about to post this on another thread, but figured any subsequent discussion would cause a [split].

My question:

Why are all (ok, most) of the great African sprinters from Nigeria, and not from Benin, Togo, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Equitorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, or other Western African nations?

My guess (economics, population) doesn't explain this fully, since other impoverished nations (Ethiopia) produce their fare share of world-class runners.

I'm sure there's some cultural / historical significance to this, but my very brief online research has produced nothing to this point.

[tandfman]

Re: Nigerian Sprinters

=Why are all (ok, most) of the great African sprinters from Nigeria, and not from Benin, Togo, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Equitorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, or other Western African nations?

For one thing, the population of Nigeria is greater than that of the other seven countries you mentioned combined. But I agree with you that this can't fully account for the disparity in the number of world class sprinters. I don't know the answer either.

[gh]

Jon Entine would be happy to explain it to you.

[tandfman]

I was thinking of that when I decided to end my post as I did.

[Half Miler]

I thought Entine's writings were about West African vs. East African physiology, not so much about Nigeria. But I'll re-read, thanks.

[Half Miler]

Nope, Entine sez nothing specific about Nigeria.

This thread IS NOT INTENDED to re-hash the "why are black athletes dominant" question!

More along the lines of, "why is Scandinavia dominant in the Javelin?"

[Half Miler]

Perhaps a better question would be, why aren't there ANY world-class sprinters from:

Benin
Togo
Cameroon
Burkina Faso
Equitorial Guinea
Gabon
Congo (both)
Niger
Mali
Mauritania
Liberia
Guinea
Guinea Bissau

???

[gh]

I'm pretty sure Entine goes beyond East (distance)/West (sprint) differentiation, noting the possibility of the gene distribution being much more specific (think the Kalenjin in Kenya, for example). Touchy subject, and a theory not bought by all, but it remains a possibility.

[Mighty Favog]

To take this a different direction, can anyone shed light on the development system in Nigeria and/or its neighbors? All the talent in the world doesn't do any good if you never get on the track.

[Half Miler]

That would be the intended direction.

[AS]

Perhaps a better question would be, why aren't there ANY world-class sprinters from:

Benin
Togo
Cameroon
Burkina Faso
Equitorial Guinea
Gabon
Congo (both)
Niger
Mali
Mauritania
Liberia
Guinea
Guinea Bissau

???

But there are from others in that neighbourhood - Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Senegal... so it isn't just Nigeria that gets it somewhat right...

[Half Miler]

And Ghana.

As I said, "most" sprinters. But the dominance of Nigeria is off the chart.

[Half Miler]

Another question for those in-the-know:

Does Nigeria "import" athletes from neighboring countries, a la Qatar? This would go a long ways toward explaining the disparity, particularly if the athletes change their nationality.

[zzbottom]

It would appear that the Liberian sprints are in better shape than the distances.

http://www.liberiatrack.com/recordbook.html

Of course, I am aware that there have been many other things for the average Liberian to worry about more than training for track and field.

[tandfman]

Perhaps a better question would be, why aren't there ANY world-class sprinters from:

Benin
Togo
Cameroon
Burkina Faso
Equitorial Guinea
Gabon
Congo (both)
Niger
Mali
Mauritania
Liberia
Guinea
Guinea Bissau

???

But there are from others in that neighbourhood - Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Senegal... so it isn't just Nigeria that gets it somewhat right...

This may or may not explain anything at all, but is it possible that it has something to do with a difference in the physical education component of their school system, which may have been derived from the British Colonial days? Ghana, a much smaller country that was also a British colony, has had some good sprinters too. Almost all of the other countries mentioned above were French colonies.

Obviously, there's nothing about speaking English or French that makes one faster or slower, but perhaps there was something different about the British colonies' approaches to physical education that has left Nigeria with a lingering legacy, one that was shared by Jamaica, Trinidad, the Bahamas, and other former British colonies.