Discussion
Thinking back to college and cross breeding farm animals to get hybrid vigour and the best traits of both parents got me thinking. What if Paula Radcliffe and Mo Farah had a child? Would it be the best runner in history? What about Jason Kenny and Laura Trott, if they had kids would they be a great cyclists? If a footballer had a child with a ballerina or gymnast would that give the child really good balance to go with the footballers strength?
Paula's husband Gary was a promising 1500m runner (may have run for UK students, not sure) so it'll be interesting to see if their 2 kids are decent runners.
That said, if you look at the athlete factories that are East African nations, I reckon upbringing and early life are at least as important as genetics.
That said, if you look at the athlete factories that are East African nations, I reckon upbringing and early life are at least as important as genetics.
A few months back I read a very interesting article about how China breed two top athletes with the intention to produce offspring with the aim of them having genetics that will make them great athletes of the future. I've tried finding it but to no avail, but if there's a country that would be prepared to go to them limits, China would be that country.
Willy Nilly said:
Thinking back to college and cross breeding farm animals to get hybrid vigour and the best traits of both parents got me thinking. What if Paula Radcliffe and Mo Farah had a child? Would it be the best runner in history? What about Jason Kenny and Laura Trott, if they had kids would they be a great cyclists? If a footballer had a child with a ballerina or gymnast would that give the child really good balance to go with the footballers strength?
Kenny and Trott have been part of GB coaching process since they were mid teens and the time and money invested in them, the oppoortunities and the training is far more important to success comapred to their genes. If you want a good read, Matthew Syed's "Bounce" denounces the natural ability myth quite well.vladcjelli said:
On a similar theme, there was a piece written around the time of the Olympics, regarding the excessive amount of inter athlete copulation in the Olympic village.
Wondered whether any decent quality hybrids have ever come from inter sports/extra marital dalliances in an Olympic year?
unlikely given the number of free condoms that durex provided for the athletes village each day.... Wondered whether any decent quality hybrids have ever come from inter sports/extra marital dalliances in an Olympic year?
Well a london football club has signed Beckham Jr in the hope he has his dads Jeans, I mean genes. Then you have the Farrel family in Rugby, and iirc the Khan family are all boxers, plus I think it is common in the skiing fraternity.
I would say there would be some credence to this theroy.
I would say there would be some credence to this theroy.
Inverness said:
Well a london football club has signed Beckham Jr in the hope he has his dads Jeans, I mean genes. Then you have the Farrel family in Rugby, and iirc the Khan family are all boxers, plus I think it is common in the skiing fraternity.
I would say there would be some credence to this theroy.
But that's only from one side of the parent. I think the question is about two sporting parents and the resulting offspring.I would say there would be some credence to this theroy.
I wonder if Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf's kid(s) are showing any potential.
Highway Star said:
IIRC up and coming American cyclist Taylor Phinney is the offspring of two ex cyclists and he's doing pretty well.
It's very difficult to tell whether that sort of thing is some sort of genetic advantage or merely the product of being born into a sporty family where exercise and training will be the norm rather than unusual.London424 said:
Inverness said:
Well a london football club has signed Beckham Jr in the hope he has his dads Jeans, I mean genes. Then you have the Farrel family in Rugby, and iirc the Khan family are all boxers, plus I think it is common in the skiing fraternity.
I would say there would be some credence to this theroy.
But that's only from one side of the parent. I think the question is about two sporting parents and the resulting offspring.I would say there would be some credence to this theroy.
I wonder if Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf's kid(s) are showing any potential.
Beckham Jr was always going to get signed up, not becuase he has naturally adopted his fathers footballing skills but because he will have been kicking a ball with Beckham sr every day since he could stand on two feet....
Same reason that no child born from a Trott/Kenny relationship will naturally be a gifted cyclist but the child will be on a bike before it can walk and have the benefit of all their experience and knowledge so its a highly probable. I could have been tour de france winner if my parents were both cyclists and took me out for rides every weekend but they werent and we'll never know...
to be a success in most sports, you need natural talent far less than access to good training environments, development opportunities from an early age, some one to train/practice with etc etc.
Neither Syed's parents playted table tennis, they just bought a table so the two brothers could do something if it was raining, the parents didnt realise it at the time, but they also happened to live in the same village as a highly repsected table tennis coach..... fast forward fifteen years and Syed was commonwealth champion....
Whether it's parents sporting parents exposing their kids to sports early or the genes there are clearly plenty of kids of sporting parents that have gone on to be successful in their own right. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Owen Farrell, Liam Botham, Nick Compton (grandfather more successful than father), Stuart Broad, Frank Lampard, Jamie Redknapp, Alec Stewart etc etc
I suspect it's the early exposure combined with the genes.
I suspect it's the early exposure combined with the genes.
Cheib said:
Whether it's parents sporting parents exposing their kids to sports early or the genes there are clearly plenty of kids of sporting parents that have gone on to be successful in their own right. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Owen Farrell, Liam Botham, Nick Compton (grandfather more successful than father), Stuart Broad, Frank Lampard, Jamie Redknapp, Alec Stewart etc etc
I suspect it's the early exposure combined with the genes.
I'd suggest the percentage is actually very few in fact.I suspect it's the early exposure combined with the genes.
The difference with breeding animals to get the perfect cow, pig etc is that it has taken a lot of generations to get to where we are now and you know when the animal is a year or 2 old if it's the right shape or not, the ones that aren't good enough go in pies, the good ones stay for breeding and gradually we have moved towards the required shape.
You couldn't do that with humans due to the long time until you found if they were good and the slight moral issue with killing the ones who weren't!
I suspect that if Mo and Paula had kids, they might get all the running genes, but they might equally get some of the other less runny ones, it would be hit and miss.
You couldn't do that with humans due to the long time until you found if they were good and the slight moral issue with killing the ones who weren't!
I suspect that if Mo and Paula had kids, they might get all the running genes, but they might equally get some of the other less runny ones, it would be hit and miss.
Inverness said:
Well a london football club has signed Beckham Jr in the hope he has his dads Jeans, I mean genes.
One difference here is that if you think your son is a good footy player and you go and knock on the door at Chelsea and say 'Can you give my boy a trial' they'll probably tell you to go away, whereas when Beckham does it they say 'Of course, David, come in' sjc said:
I'd suggest the percentage is actually very few in fact.
It's low, but if you look at the percentage of people in the general population who get to the top of a sport, and compare it to the percentage of people who are the children of top sportspeople, I think you'd find a significant difference. Gassing Station | Sports | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff