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GOLDSEA |
ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
ASIAN ATHLETES LIMITED BY GENES OR NURTURE?
o debate on the prospects of Asian athletes in American sports passes without mention of Yao Ming, the Shanghai Sharks's 7-6, 265-pound center who recently led China to an 83-82 upset over the U.S. His prospects as the likely top pick of the 2002 NBA draft have been trumpeted by no lesser authorities than Michael Jordan and Bill Walton.
But the 21-year-old superstar is literally one in a billion (1.25 billion to be exact). Young Yao is the product, genetically and culturally, of a 6-10 father and 6-4 mother, both of whom played basketball for China's national teams. His case is as likely to confuse the nature-vs-nurture debate as to help resolve it. After all, his height may be merely the tip of the genetic iceberg when it comes to his promise as a world-class basketballer.
More familiar to Asian Americans are Michael Chang (5-9) who won the French Open at age 17, and Ichiro Suzuki (5-9), whose batting and base-stealing have lifted the Mariners from the basement to the heavens. Both seem endowed with standard physical equipment but have outperformed more powerful physiques. And on the women's side Kristi Yamaguchi, Michele Kwan, Seri Pak and legions of Chinese divers and gymnasts have shown that champions needn't be amazons.
But these successes haven't silenced those who argue that as a race Asians lack the genetic gifts to challenge black and white athletes in power sports. Asians are genetically smaller and weaker, they claim, and can only excel in sports calling for quickness and agility. They cite Asian underrepresentation in track and field, football, basketball, soccer, tennis, boxing and the like.
Will the future mirror the past? Are we genetically limited to excelling only in a few select sports or will changing social and economic conditions produce a generation of Asian superstars across the sports spectrum?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:57:49 PM)
Reading the introduction on the left, I am outraged on how they view asians, well not asians but how they view chinese people(me).
There is something I agree on, we do produce less or more lean muscle than the wider caucasian people, but we are not small(chinese).We are generally taller than koreans, and koreans are tall people also.I've seen sports with tall 5'10 FEMALE china badminton and tennis stars and they beat em russians and americans who are shorter and not as quick.What I do think is that, Chinese people's body will adapt to conditions of the surroundings, like our skin, under sunlight, produce melatin quicker to defend our skin from cancer stuff like that.ALot of chinese people under the sunlight of china(which over there they say is filtered by excessive dust clouds and thick pollutants,also it orbits and rotates at times when the sun is not as strong)are whiter than ones in america.We also seem to adapt to a bendy situation caused by kungfu and become not as tall.I see this in caucasians also, so we should not say we are naturally short.2008 Beijing olympics.I cant wait.Download sky light infinite on morpheus to watch a pepsi olympic china song.Very cool, aaron kwok and wong faye.By 2008, the chinese will be well fed and tall tall tall!Eat more yi mein, dumplings, and roast duck!We will be back to our former glory!The economy is also getting better, and beijing is a nice place.I cant wait for the stars that perform there...THey will be tall garaunteed.One thing I think chinese excel in is tennis and badminton, those people seem super tall and are quick.
junis
Wednesday, January 30, 2002 at 03:49:02 (PST)
As a recent visitor to China, having viewed the new, monster dam being built, I can only say that the Chinese people as a race are definitely not limited in strength, agility, and energy. I saw no obesity anywhere and with the workers on the dam having a high percentage of women laborers, I can see why. Also, in cities, the regularity of early morning workouts in the form of modern ballroom dancing, taichi, and sword dancing keeps the office workers awake and limber.
I watched a senior citizen (female) lift herself and bag of shopping from a skiff to the back end of a houseboat in HongKong harbor. I couldn't have elevated my knee to that height! Let alone lift myself up.
blehman
blehman@crosslink.net
Sunday, January 13, 2002 at 06:04:25 (PST)
KM, 24,
Living in a multicultural city, I've been lucky enough to come into contact with all sorts of people, which include asians who aspire to become pro athletes.
AC Dropout,
I agree with you, as many Olympian athletes have to work hard to get any sort of funding, and many hold down a full time job in order to support themselves while they train.
Overall, I guess what irked me about Asian Jock's statement was the implicit message than the only thing non-asians aspire to be are pro athletes, and that said non asians are intellectually inferior. That's all.
Ms. T :-)
Sunday, December 30, 2001 at 16:20:06 (PST)
whoa whoa whoa "Ichiro Suzuki (5-9), lifted the Mariners from the basement to the heavens"?? what is that?? he is a good player but he didn't lift the team from the basement! the team was already near heaven status last year nearly beating those yanks! all this happened before they even signed ichiro! so reasearch a little bit and get it right! the mariners wer never in last place this year or neither was last year
mariner fan
Sunday, December 30, 2001 at 13:25:40 (PST)
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