News-Record.com

The geographic concentration of athletic talent in certain sports is amazing.

I just watched the men's 10,000 meters (taped). The top 10 finishers, in order, hail from:

Ethiopia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Kenya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Qatar, Tanzania and Uganda.

Check out the location of those countries on the map. Except for Qatar (not shown, but just north of Oman on the Persian Gulf), they all follow the Great Rift Valley of East Africa.

But never mind Qatar, anyway. The athlete running for that nation is a native of Kenya.

Ethiopians and Kenyans emerged on the international distance-running scene back in the 60s (think Abebe Bikila and Kip Keino). They've gotten stronger and stronger ever since.

Truth be told, if countries were allowed more than three entrants in Olympic events, you'd see even more Kenyans and Ethiopians pacing races like the 10,000 meters, which require a rare combination of endurance and speed. Now, neighboring countries are producing top runners, too.

The common denominator is the striking geographic feature that cuts through East Africa -- the Great Rift Valley. Whether its inhabitants are naturally superior distance runners because of genetics and environment (high altitude, for one thing), I can't say. Those could be factors, as could culture: Living is hard in East Africa; kids in rural areas grow up covering long distances on foot, and naturally gravitate to distance running for sport, especially because it doesn't cost a lot of money or require expensive facilities (face it, they're not going to become swimmers). Plus, the best runners, the Olympic stars, are the most popular sports figures, the Kobe Bryants and Lebron Jameses of their countries. They set the standards kids want to reach.

Whatever the reasons, there's no denying the result.