urstill1 wrote:[quote=Alba]Botswana has a population of only 2 million. But all of a sudden they have world class runners in events from 400m to 800m. Aside from Nijel Amos, there is also Isaac Makwala who recently blasted the Africa 400m record with a time of 44.01 which ranks him as 3rd best in the world.
Now Monthsho has failed a drug test. Iko kitu hapa ?
http://www.theguardian.c...commonwealth-games-2014[/quote]
Kwani ni population inakimbia ama ni individuals? Even in football only a squad of 23 can be selected for WC. So country's popn is not an issue. Do you know the popn of Jamaica? Around 2.7m. They are best known for short distance races and were in WC in 1998.
Jamaica is an exception. There are a few other exceptions but 99% of countries that consistently do well in a sport have large populations.
In the Olympics for example, China, USA and Russia always top the medal table. Conversely countries with low populations (even rich ones like Qatar) rarely win medals.
A larger population means its more likely that you have many of the genetic freaks that are required to win medals.
And Jamaica has always had sprinting pedigree since the 1940s. They did not just pop out of nowhere.