Why Are There No Black Swimmers Or Gymnasts in the Olympics?

From time to time I would be asked this question and a reader just asked: "Why are there no Black swimmers or gymnasts in the Olympics?" It seems a very valid question if you look back and it seems true but if you look deeper enough that in itself should not be a question because our human nature has this tendency to see things in definition of absoluteness - white, black, brown, yellow, etc. or by borders of East or West. We could argue that Mr. Barack Obama is President and we should not say that President Obama is a black President but that does not change anything or take anything away. So this question does have an interesting angle to it.

Athletics

You can talk about running, jumping, singing, dancing, boxing, etc. and these are just a few areas that blacks excel in. You can also ask why are Jamaicans so good at sprinting? According to some reports, West Africans seem to have higher numbers of muscles responsible for short, explosive burst of action than do whites which becomes an advantage in running competition. 


There is no compelling evidence to show that training can help overcome and make slow muscles become fast twitched ones which seems to suggest that even when one trained hard one can't develop such innate skills but by stating it this way, we are not being fair and in fact seems unjust and unkind towards people of African descent robbing them of their proper achievements and accomplishments. It insinuates that they didn't have to work hard, they just had this natural ability. Actually, all these extends beyond running or sports in general. You would have heard that blacks would not have succeeded in the acaedemic world without affirmative action so that they look to have achieved because of hand-outs through legislation or as a result of mother nature.

Reverse Situation?

What interest me is the reverse question that is do blacks ask why the best gymnasts, hockey players or swimmers are whites and if mother nautre favoured whites as such? To allow genes to determine results may not be scientific and even if we try to make it scientific then is has to be suspect. Athletic performance or for that matter, any other kind of performance is determined by a broad scope and very complex mix of genes, environment factors like culture, diet, training. 

I believe genes do play a part as some of us are shorter ot taller, etc. but they may only play a very small part. I mean regardless of our skin colour, some of us are lazier than others and you can find lazy people in all countries regardless of race, language or religion. I thought I was lazy too but when I met lazier primates, I felt like I have been working too hard. However, by and large, we have to take note that all these are nothing but assumptions. If you assume, you are making an "ass" of "u" and "me". Sometimes, when used wrongly, even scientific research can be biased and used to serve a certain purpose. If you want to find something to justify, you will.

Other Factors

What about Tiger Woods? Numero Uno in a sports dominated by whites. You know the world is crazy when the top golfer is black and a top rapper (Eminem) is white. I have seen Caucasians speaking Mandarin better than the many Chinese locals I know and that is because they didn't allow it to be an obstacle at the very beginning. Was it because of genes that allow tongues to twist better? 


Some of us younger generation Chinese can't even speak Mandarin. I mean could it not be a fact the Track and Field is like a religion in Jamaica where it has an important role and position in their society such that children train from a a very early age? If this is the case, then it is extreme hard work not genetics. Bruce Lee said he fear the man who practises a kick a thousand times not the many who practise a thousand kicks one time. I am also sure that in Jamaica, there are people who can't run.

Opportunity Or Interest?

If blacks do not excel in gymnastics, swimming and hockey, could it be due to discrimination and lack of opportunities. Once, Asians too were thought to be inferior and less intellectual. So if China with their awesome gene pool and long history were to produce awesome power in any chosen field (just based on probability alone, it is a sure thing), then what? 


Chinese are genetically intelligent? Lionel Messi had some abnormalities but could it be as a result of it that he is the soccer player he is today? Canadians are good in hockey and camping due to geography ain't it where many places are covered with ice for a long period perhaps? What about Chinese gymnasts? In South Africa where the soccer World Cup will be held, rugby is a white sport while soccer is a black sport. What about Michael Phelps having shorter legs with longer arms that is very good for swimming?

If the tallest volleybal players are at 5 foot 8 inches, then you still stand a chance if you are 5 foot 5 inches but you are not going to see 6 foot 3 inches gymnasts and for the girls, the moment they got bigger they would have been discouraged. That is why I suppose in gymnast you see the very young girls performing at 13, 14, etc. Because they are more nimble and you could take advantage of balance on some small beams or whatever. 


So what we have are Jamaicans who can run fast, Black Americans who can jump high while Kenyans and Ethiopians can run forever. How about Yao Ming? Look over time and around us today. Look at Pele, Muhammed Ali, Carl Lewis, Usain Bolt and many more like Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Leonard.

What about opportunities and access. In poorer countries and blacks in developed countries may not have the same opportunities and access as they may be poorer in the early days and when you don't have access you can't even try a sport and know if you can play it. How do you know if you could play Polo unless you have that chance to ride that horse? Swimming and gymnastics may costs a lot more in coaching lessons, etc. 


Isn't it true to say that soccer is a global sport because all you need is a ball and an open field? Will you be surprised that Usain Bolt can be hard working and intelligent? Singapore was not bad in track and field in the old days too because it was a much cheaper sport when we were much poorer. Maybe Kenya has a million children running 20 miles every week? Usain Bolt's father said he could run so fast because he eats lots of yam. Try eating yam and see if you can do the same. Some of us don't even know what yam taste like anymore.

We See The World According To How We Like

Once a report published showed that Africans has an average IQ of 75 below the borderline retardation IQ of 80 but this was the work of a racist scientist. Today you will find many even with IQs of 130-140. Someone said to me: " You are Chinese but how come you can write so well?" I really think it is all about our passion and desire. I didn't feel offended. This person must be living in his own world and do not understand the world around him and is therefore ignorant that everything is dynamic and is constantly changing. We still have service staffs serving white caucasians better than locals so is it any surprise? But such things do work both ways. Could it be that Westerners were more polite and less condescending to the service staffs? A bit of both I guess.

All People Can Do All Things. If you want to.

Of late, I have noticed that everywhere I go, I seem to hear complaints that there are more and more ants making their way into people's home. Don't believe me? Pay a bit more attention at home or ask your friends about it. Could it be due to more frequent earthquakes these days? Today's ants are more intelligent, braver and are commandos. I have mentioned to you before that an ant carrying a grain of rice is like a human carrying a car. 


We conducted a necessary experiment by placing any foodstuffs in plastic bags (say bread) into a tray and we placed the tray onto something like a tripod stand which is then placed onto a bigger tray filled with water making it what would look like a giant swimming pool for the ants. Can ants swim? You bet! Some drowned while swimming. Some of their mates actually made it. These are commando ants! They are too small or I would have taken a picture of it. This means to say that if you wanted something badly enough, you have the passion and desire for it, you have the hunger for it, you can do it. C'mon, even ants could, what's your problem?

Set Patterns

Some countries excels and dominated certain sports at least at one time or another like Canada is good in ice hockey, New Zealand in Rugby, Indonesia in badminton, Pakistan in squash, Brazil excels in soccer, China in gymnastic and table tennis and so on. Where they excel it became a tradition. The population gets inspired as they love their heroes, the grassroot level gets stirring, more people pick up that sport and you get a talent pool growing to supply for future aspirations of the sports in that nation. 


You can say that Usain Bolt is great inspiration to his country that keeps them interested in this field. Manny Pacquaio would have similarly inspired his fellow Filipinos in boxing. We need heroes to create that interest. We need victories and achievements and a talent pool to sustain. When you succeed, you get more money in the sports association and you will get more sponsors. It becomes a sort of evolution. If you don't, the excitement will die down, The euphoria gone. Stars faded and hopes dashed. Everything will crumble. Fans, supporters will go away and nobody else would pick up that sport. That was what happened to our once very proud Squash tradition here in Singapore. Some of these nations have sports tradition so deeply embedded in them that they became set patterns. They could even spawn industries.

Conclusion

Finally, results, achievements and ability should never be based on skin colours, nationalities, race, whatever. At the end of the day, we can only discriminate against ourselves don't you think? Discrimination based on colour, race, sex, status, age, religion, etc. is meaningless because you belong to one or more of these categories yourselves. Whites can discriminate against whites too based on sex or age. Jobs could discriminate against folks who are older. Chinese can discriminate Chinese based on status. The list goes on and we end up subjecting ourselves to abuse. Those who discriminate lacks confidence and security. 


Countries that excel in a certain sports will continue to have a tradition as interest has been created and everything including the masses, the sponsors, etc. gravitates towards the objective and is able to sustain it. Some countries have a very strong sporting culture and they take very good care of their sportsmen and sportswomen helping them in every conceivable ways to excel. The truth is that the world is changing rapidly - rich countries can become poor and poor countries can become rich. Excellence in sports can also switch camp. 


The global city is closer than you thought but volcanic ashes showed that the world is rather big when you have to travel 1,000 to 2,000 km by road for a soccer match. Inter-marriages among the races and across countries are ever increasing, so too immigration such that the world gets borderless and a becomes a smaller place and we are more of the same people. Way back, they say the US will have a black President when pigs could fly. Well, Obama became President and we had swine flu! Could a Chinese one day be President? Yes, when cows ...... Let sports unite people across the world. If soccer is the beautiful game, then sports in any form is the beautiful thing. Have fun!

Safety

In whatever sports you participate in, just remember the number one thing must always be safety. Whether it is swimming, racket games, golf or even tug-of-war. I am sure you have heard or read about arms being ripped off when some people unwittingly coiled the rope around their arms for better grip and ended up being maimed. Racket games like squash where one player smashed the racket into another's head or face which led to injuries to a person's head, eye-glasses smashed and face cut. 


Golf where people continue playing despite lightning warning, hitting the ball before the front has cleared, etc. To have a handicap in golf is not to determine how good a golfer you are but to ensure that you are proficient enough to observe safety and knowing how to take care of yourself and others. Few people knew that you need a licence to operate a jet ski and when overseas you would commonly find them at beaches. In fact, we now know that there have been several fatal accidents. Take good care first and foremost. Stay safe, stay cool and stay with me. Watch this space...