East African runners one step ahead By Scientific American, adapted by Newsela staff on 08.15.16 Word Count 840 Level 1020L

Kenya's Asbel Kiprop (center) heads for the finish line to win the men's 1500-meter final at the Championships in the Luzhniki stadium in , Russia, August 18, 2013. AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus

When the starting gun fires at the Olympic track in , the leaders of the distance races might be no surprise.

In the men’s 1,500 meters, Asbel Kiprop will be up front. In the women’s 5,000 meters, also called a 5K, Almaz Ayana will run away. She may also take the 10,000 meters, or 10K race. In the , Helah Kiprop will push the women whereas Eliud Kipchoge will be the one to watch among the men. In the men’s 800 meters, David Rudisha will likely hold his title and maybe break his own world record.

In other words, most of these races will be dominated by runners from, or with roots in, eastern Africa— mainly and . Mo Farah, at the top of the ranking for 10,000 meters, was born in Somalia, which borders Ethiopia. Bernard Lagat, who just won the U.S. 5,000-meter Olympic qualifier — at age 41 — is Kenyan-American.

It's In Their Genes East African runners have dominated since Kenyans started winning in the mid-1990s, followed by Ethiopians shortly thereafter. The reasons for that dominance are hotly debated. Science has offered little clear information about it.

The favorite theory in the West is that runners from east Africa have some genetic advantage over other runners. Many of the elite runners come from the Oromo ethnic group in Ethiopia and the Kalenjin tribes in Kenya. It is believed these groups must have traits or environments that make them faster. Maybe their ancestors gained endurance by hunting on foot. It could be their longer, thinner legs or their increased lung capacity from living at higher altitudes. In an attempt to find answers, researchers have collected DNA from across the region. Yannis Pitsiladis of the University of Brighton in England said, “We know genes are important. We just don’t know which ones they are.”

Another factor that has been overlooked, however, is the “running cultures” of places in Ethiopia and Kenya. One is the poor Ethiopian town of Bekoji. It has about 16,000 people and is a few hours outside the capital of Addis Ababa. In recent years, it has produced 10 Olympic gold medals, 15 world records and 34 World Championship gold medals, said British runner and writer Declan Murray. He is writing a book about Bekoji.

Coach Trains Athletes

This town's success rate is stunning. Many other towns in the region have similar ethnic backgrounds, genetic makeup and quality of life. However, they have not produced a single elite runner.

At the center of the town’s success is a coach named Sentayehu Eshetu, who has been training local running talent for over 30 years. One of his first stars was , who took the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Since then Sentayehu has drawn more runners to his program. Every day, the hills around Bekoji are filled with hundreds of young athletes who train and dream of winning. Sentayehu’s runners brought home five Olympic medals from Athens in 2004, four from in 2008 and four more from in 2012.

Olympian Ran In His Bare Feet

Ethiopia’s running culture started with a trailblazer whose success seemed to inspire young people to follow in his footsteps. Adebe Bikila is still a folk hero today for winning the 1960 Olympic Marathon in bare feet. “When you ask people why they got involved in running, it’s because they see these people on TV or they heard it on the radio,” says Malcolm Anderson. He is an athletics agent and founder of Moyo Sports, an agency with runners from Kenya, Ethiopia and the U.K.

The small town of Iten has seen results similar to Bekoji's. Culturally, Iten is similar to Bekoji, attracting a huge pool of talent while fostering competition and training. Every day, young runners arrive in Iten from across the region. If they are lucky—and fast—they will be accepted into a training camp. If they are luckier still, they’ll be signed by an agent for training and racing abroad. Almost all of them will see some of their fellow athletes rise to the world stage.

It Helps To Speak The Right Language

For several generations, athletic knowledge has grown in Kalenjin training camps. Benoit Gaudin of the Department of Sport Sciences at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia interviewed elite non- Kalenjin runners. They report that joining a training camp is difficult if you are not Kalenjin.

Those who succeed do so by basically becoming Kalenjin. “Either they learn the language or they marry a Kalenjin girl or they have high-profile support inside the running community, and someone is helping them," Gaudin says. "Otherwise it’s very difficult, because they have their own specific language even within the Kalenjin group. For example, you can train with them today but you don’t know where the next training is tomorrow, because when it comes time to give this key information, they switch languages."

Gaudin says this is interesting because it has to do with ethnicity, but has nothing to do with genetics. Quiz

1 Which section highlights the idea that no one is sure why East African runners are exceptionally great?

(A) Introduction [paragraphs 1-3]

(B) "It's In Their Genes"

(C) "Coach Trains Athletes"

(D) "Olympian Ran In His Bare Feet"

2 Which of these sentences from the article BEST supports the conclusion that culture has a role in developing great runners?

(A) It could be their longer, thinner legs or their increased lung capacity from living at higher altitudes.

(B) Many other towns in the region have similar ethnic backgrounds, genetic makeup and quality of life.

(C) “When you ask people why they got involved in running, it’s because they see these people on TV or they heard it on the radio,” says Malcolm Anderson.

(D) “Either they learn the language or they marry a Kalenjin girl or they have high-profile support inside the running community, and someone is helping them," Gaudin says.

3 Which statement would be most important to include in a summary of the article?

(A) It is a common belief that East African runners have good genes for running.

(B) David Rudisha might break world records at the Olympics.

(C) Bekoji is a poor town in Ethiopia outside of the capital, with about 16,000 people.

(D) Adebe Bikila won a marathon without wearing shoes.

4 Which two of the following sentences from the article include central ideas of the article?

1. In other words, most of these races will be dominated by runners from, or with roots in, eastern Africa— mainly Kenya and Ethiopia. 2. The reasons for that dominance are hotly debated. 3. Many other towns in the region have similar ethnic backgrounds, genetic makeup and quality of life. 4. They report that joining a training camp is difficult if you are not Kalenjin.

(A) 1 and 2

(B) 1 and 3

(C) 2 and 3

(D) 3 and 4