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At a 100 meters quarterfinal at the NCAA East Regionals yesterday, Cole Beck became the fastest white man in history.
Take a look at the clip and I'll talk about the significance of this, and also about something anomalous that's going on in track and field.
Take a look at the clip and I'll talk about the significance of this, and also about something anomalous that's going on in track and field.
If you've followed me for awhile you probably already know that I'm interested in a subject that people aren't supposed to be interested in: Performance differences between population groups.
These show up most conspicuously in IQ, sprinting, and long-distance running.
These show up most conspicuously in IQ, sprinting, and long-distance running.
When Virginia Tech's Cole Beck broke a race barrier in sports yesterday — becoming the first person of wholly European ancestry run 100 meters in under 9.9 seconds (his time was 9.87) and only the third to go below 10 seconds, it got zero coverage in the media.
If he had been a black guy (or gal) who broke a race-related record in a sport, we'd probably be hearing all about it.
But we're not going to hear about this because the racial dominance of blacks in men's sprinting is so complete that talking about it makes people nervous.
But we're not going to hear about this because the racial dominance of blacks in men's sprinting is so complete that talking about it makes people nervous.
One way to look at this dominance is to think about what happened in that video clip: The fastest white guy of all time didn't even come in first place in the race in which he became the fastest white guy of all time. (Beck came in second.)
The last time a white man made an Olympics 100 meters final was 1980. (Notably, the 1980 Olympics was boycotted by most of the world.)
Of the fastest 120 men of all time, only 7 have no African ancestry.
Of the fastest 120 men of all time, only 7 have no African ancestry.
So, who is Cole Beck? Even though I'm someone who closely follows track, I hadn't heard of him until a couple weeks ago when he won the 100 at the ACC championships in 10.11 seconds (an unremarkable time). Until that he had been running mostly in a very mediocre 10.2-10.4 range.
You don't often — ever? — see this kind of sudden transformation. 10.3 to 9.87 seconds over a few months?
I don't want to, you know, suggest anything here, but it's probably worth remembering that no sport is as rife with banned substance abuse as sprinting.
I don't want to, you know, suggest anything here, but it's probably worth remembering that no sport is as rife with banned substance abuse as sprinting.
One more thing about Beck: He's the first decent white male sprinter I've seen who sprints like a black guy. Gifted white sprinters before (like Mennea and LaMaitre) were lousy starters with obvious natural speed bursts but no power. Beck is all power. And he's a good starter.
I started off this thread by saying that there's something anomalous going on in track and field, and here's what I meant by this: Suddenly, out of nowhere — for the first time in 60 years — you're seeing a few white faces in American sprinting, mostly among women.
The most notable example is Abby Steiner, who broke the women's collegiate 200 meters record last year. (She's running as a pro this year, and has so far been solid, although not as fast as she was last year.)
Then there's a Mia Brahe-Pederson, a high school junior in Oregon who is breaking state records in the 100 and 200 and might be the best female high school sprinter in the country. Here she is destroying the field at a recent state meet.
Even more interesting perhaps is a 14 year-old Kansan named Aria Pearce, who is the fastest American girl in her age group, and is so good that she's been competing in some local NCAA meets.
And finally there's the cautionary tale of Matt Boling, who ran a record-breaking wind-aided 9.98 in high school in 2019 but has produced less than spectacular results in college, and will likely not make the 2024 Olympic team.
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