While most scientists have avoided “the race issue” in athletics, ostensibly to avoid racism, there are undeniable examples of different races dominating particular sports; Blacks* in distance running, Whites* in swimming, and numerous other examples (*or whatever the politically correct term for these races happens to be at the moment).

A recent study examined anthropomorphic characteristics between races in swimming and running, and found that the center of gravity, located by the placement of the athlete’s belly button, is a strongly correlated biomechanical advantage. It turns out that having a longer torso ( a lower belly button) helps with swimming, while a shorter torso (and higher belly button) helps with running.  Just to make sure nobody screamed racism, the authors of the study are a black guy and a white guy.

White men still can’t jump, but perhaps this explains why.