Endurance Running is in East Africans' Genes

The long-distance running prowess of Ethiopia’s elite male athletes is partly dictated by their genes.

Researchers have established that such athletes are more likely to have certain variants of four Y chromosome genes compared with other Ethiopians. No one knows what the genes do, or how influential they are, but they are the first to be linked to east Africans’ outstanding ability for endurance events.

Read more about why it's good to be East African.