Stop Talking About Olympic Athleticism Like It Is 1922

It’s not about the genes

It’s not about the genes

Photo by Bryan Turner on Unsplash

Last week, my wife and I sat down to our quad-annual ritual of watching two hours of sports during the winter Olympics. I was stunned to hear commentators’ references to genes and pedigree. It goes something like this:

With Olympians as parents, so and so has the genes to make this happen.

I’m open to any research that connects athleticism genetically, but let’s be honest… if your parents are Olympians, it’s not the genes that got you where you are.

Becoming an Olympian, especially now, requires social and financial capital

The social and financial capital that an Olympian has access to may vary depending on their individual circumstance, but these benefits are certainly more available if you come from a family of Olympians. These perks include a full-time coach, high-end nutrition and training, and a great deal of investment and sponsorship from the government, corporations, and individuals. None of these things are genetic.

Sure, we hear stories about Shaun White sleeping in a van with his family just to snowboard. But his kids are far more likely to become Olympians than your kids because he now has the connections and the money to make it happen… no matter what’s in your genes.

Do you ever wonder why there are fewer black swimmers, for instance, in America? It’s not because of genetics. According to Swimming World Magazine:

1. Black children are much less likely to have parents or friends that enjoy swimming… the dominant factor in whether someone competes in this sport.

2. Because of segregation in America, Black Americans have had less access to public pools… most of which are in wealthy white communities. Thus point #1.

Is it just me, or does it seem like the commentators are more than a little dismissive of the social and financial capital that is afforded to Olympians? If you are going to point out the extreme circumstances of athletes like Shaun White, then you should be careful to do so on the other end of the spectrum.

We need to stop referring to athletic success as a product of genetics.

Defining athleticism genetically smacks of eugenics

Breeding pedigree is an old and dangerous idea. Eugenics is a term from the early 20th century that describes the idea that humans can be bred to become more intelligent, healthier, or better at things like athletics and music. Many eugenicists believed some races were superior to others, suggesting breeding of “superior” humans to improve the human race. It’s no coincidence that eugenics and the idea of selective breeding have resurfaced several times in the history of language.

Eugenics was a precursor to Nazism, enjoying its heyday right around 1922. Is there a way to identify athletic ability genetically? Can we breed for athletic ability? Should we do it? In the 1930s, the Nazis attempted to breed athletic people. They thought to create a “master race” of super athletes, who could then compete against the lower classes. German scientists embraced this idea. Eventually, they began breeding athletes of different races and ethnic backgrounds, hoping to create an ideal Aryan body type.

Now, that’s not to say that genetics aren’t important in determining athleticism. It does… but it’s complicated. In fact, there are many studies showing that some people’s genes are more closely tied to the ability to perform sports-related activities than others. Some people are even trying to select athletes through genetics (instead of talent scouting). Well, it doesn’t work. Why? Because eugenics is a reductionist philosophy meant to establish a racial hierarchy… it has never worked as a science. And such applications of genetics come real close to eugenics.

Eugenics itself, in large quantities or small, coming quickly or coming slowly, urged from good motives or bad, applied to a thousand people or applied to three, Eugenics itself is a thing no more to be bargained about than poisoning. — G.K. Chesterton

If such ideas are patently false, and often support racial hierarchies, then why are we still talking about human pedigree in 2022? Because these ways of thinking don’t disappear… they just become buried in our discourse.

These things persist because we keep speaking them

Eugenics is closely tied to the Olympics tradition and the emergence of sports culture. Even though eugenics is a word most people associate with the Nazi ideology of racial hygiene and genocide, it was popular among many leading scientists, thinkers, and politicians from the late 1800s to the mid-1930s.

For example, during the 1904 Olympics, a “sideshow” featured indigenous peoples attempting Olympic feats, ultimately as a proof case for Anglo-Saxon superiority. Though the Olympics are more diverse than ever, these ideas linger on in how we talk about sports. Just as commentators ignore social and financial capital today, most people ignore those factors when watching how poorly these “uncivilized” people performed in Olympic sports. Of course, they were no good… they had never played those sports before… and did not have the time and money to invest in training for those sports either.

And let’s not forget Hitler’s attempt to prove Aryan superiority in 1936… ultimately foiled by Jesse Owens.

Of course, none of these commentators are actively promoting a Nazi agenda, but the language we all used at that time has become part of our everyday vernacular. Every time we talk about the genetic pedigree of Olympic athletes, we make these ideas a part of our society.

Our narratives of rugged individualism too often hide the rampant inequality in our society. Anyone can become president. Anyone can become rich like Warren Buffett or Jeff Bezos. Perhaps that’s true in an ideological sense, but the social conditions are far from equal for everyone. This is certainly true for those who dream of competing in the Olympics… or any sport, really.

In no way am I downplaying these Olympians’ hard work and dedication. I’m sure it is grueling and worthy of admiration. Sure, their bodies play to that advantage, depending on a complicated interaction between genetics and social environment. But social and financial capital plays a larger role than we often admit. Just listen closely to the Olympian backstories next time you are watching.