The Japanese Olympic team is finalized (Fun fact, somehow a 4:09 woman got in on world ranking in the women's 1500 ) and I was reading Brett Larner's article on the team. In looking at the roster, it struck me that the Japanese men have full sprint squads (100-200-400-110h-400h) but the Japanese women have zero entrants in the flat sprints and just two 100 hurdlers.
The ratio for Japanese wo/men #1 mark vs #50 mark in the 100 is 3% for both ie the 50th mark is 3% slower than the 50th. 11.37/11.86 vs 9.97/10.34 For the marathon it is 3% for men, 11% for women 2:05:51/2:10 vs 2:19:24/2:35
The 100 times for women are uniformly slow. But it is even slower in Kenya. The fastest 100 in 2023 was 11.68, and only 36 marks were recorded.
The Japanese Olympic team is finalized (Fun fact, somehow a 4:09 woman got in on world ranking in the women's 1500 ) and I was reading Brett Larner's article on the team. In looking at the roster, it struck me that the Japanese men have full sprint squads (100-200-400-110h-400h) but the Japanese women have zero entrants in the flat sprints and just two 100 hurdlers.
Japan never produces super quick female sprinters,although they do great in long distance. I think every now and then theyve produced a sub 52 400 runner,sub 2.00 800 runner,and 23 second sprinter but not often. South korean women arent fast sprinters either.
This is actually an interesting point. I suspect this may be largely a cultural issue in terms of beauty standards. If you look at the best female sprinters on Earth, they are almost universally jacked. And if they aren't jacked they are lanky at a minimum.
Masculine and Feminine looks are relative to the average body type for each gender within a culture. For Japanese women, the standard for being perceived as "feminine" is relatively extreme as both Japanese men and women tend to be thinner. If a Japanese woman were to develop the fast twitch physique needed to be a great sprinter, she will be much more of a visual anomaly in Japan than she would in other places in the world.
If you are a teenage girl (especially one living in a collectivist society), there are very clear barriers in terms of self esteem and body image that will make sprinting unappealing for most. An American girl will have similar barriers, but they are significantly lower due to the average body type of a woman in America being thicker than Japanese women.
Japanese men are less effected by this standard as the sprinters physique is more masculine.
In Conclusion: Japanese women have more to lose from competitive sprinting in terms of socio-cultural beauty standards compared to their men than other nations.
This is actually an interesting point. I suspect this may be largely a cultural issue in terms of beauty standards. If you look at the best female sprinters on Earth, they are almost universally jacked. And if they aren't jacked they are lanky at a minimum.
I don't consider Gabby Thomas, Femke Bol, Syd, Tamari Davis, TT Terry, Jenna Prandini or Abby Steiner to be "jacked." I thought of all of these sprinters within a few seconds so I am sure that there are a lot of others. Thomas & Bol are lanky but I don't consider the others I mentioned to be lanky either.
The Japanese Olympic team is finalized (Fun fact, somehow a 4:09 woman got in on world ranking in the women's 1500 ) and I was reading Brett Larner's article on the team. In looking at the roster, it struck me that the Japanese men have full sprint squads (100-200-400-110h-400h) but the Japanese women have zero entrants in the flat sprints and just two 100 hurdlers.
This is actually an interesting point. I suspect this may be largely a cultural issue in terms of beauty standards. If you look at the best female sprinters on Earth, they are almost universally jacked. And if they aren't jacked they are lanky at a minimum.
I don't consider Gabby Thomas, Femke Bol, Syd, Tamari Davis, TT Terry, Jenna Prandini or Abby Steiner to be "jacked." I thought of all of these sprinters within a few seconds so I am sure that there are a lot of others. Thomas & Bol are lanky but I don't consider the others I mentioned to be lanky either.
I get your point, but if you show an average Japanese woman any of the women you mentioned, they are going to be perceived as quite muscular and masculine for a woman. Jacked was probably too extreme of a word as sprinters tend carry a lot of lean muscle so they don't look THAT big. Most of the men don't really look jacked either in hindsight
They should look to Marybeth Sant (Price) and figure out how she got so darn fast. She's tiny and in HS ran (11.25 at altitude in Denver at 5'1" 100lbs) what would be #3 all time 100m for Japan, .04 off of #1.
They should look to Marybeth Sant (Price) and figure out how she got so darn fast. She's tiny and in HS ran (11.25 at altitude in Denver at 5'1" 100lbs) what would be #3 all time 100m for Japan, .04 off of #1.
She went to Valor and was therefore likely on the juice,
This is actually an interesting point. I suspect this may be largely a cultural issue in terms of beauty standards. If you look at the best female sprinters on Earth, they are almost universally jacked. And if they aren't jacked they are lanky at a minimum.
I don't consider Gabby Thomas, Femke Bol, Syd, Tamari Davis, TT Terry, Jenna Prandini or Abby Steiner to be "jacked." I thought of all of these sprinters within a few seconds so I am sure that there are a lot of others. Thomas & Bol are lanky but I don't consider the others I mentioned to be lanky either.
Compare all those sprinters to the standard Japanese woman, and they are jacked. clear muscle tone.
The disparity in the representation of Japanese men and women in sprint events at the Olympics could be attributed to a variety of factors.
One possible reason could be the historical and societal context of sports in Japan. Sport in Japan, like in many other places, is often coded as a masculine field. However, Japan has been making efforts to improve opportunities for elite female athletes, especially since the Olympic Games started including female events.
Another factor could be the nature of corporate sponsorship in Japan. There is extensive corporate sponsorship for a range of individual and team sports at elite levels for both male and female employees, which has opened up opportunities for women for intensive training and national and even international participation.
Moreover, the specific training and development programs for athletes in Japan might also play a role. For instance, the recent success of Japanese men in sprint events has been attributed to detailed analyses on velocity and technique combined with the tireless efforts by the sprinters and their coaches.
It’s also worth noting that the selection of athletes for specific events can be influenced by a variety of factors, including the athlete’s personal preference, coaching decisions, and strategic considerations based on the strengths and weaknesses of the athletes and their competitors.
However, these are just some possible explanations and the actual reasons could be more complex and multifaceted. It would be interesting to see how this trend evolves in future Olympic Games.
This is actually an interesting point. I suspect this may be largely a cultural issue in terms of beauty standards. If you look at the best female sprinters on Earth, they are almost universally jacked. And if they aren't jacked they are lanky at a minimum.
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So true. I suspect in Japan only ugly girls want to run fast because they have nothing to lose. For regular people, they would rather become slow by beautiful rather than being fast and ugly.
This is actually an interesting point. I suspect this may be largely a cultural issue in terms of beauty standards. If you look at the best female sprinters on Earth, they are almost universally jacked. And if they aren't jacked they are lanky at a minimum.
Masculine and Feminine looks are relative to the average body type for each gender within a culture. For Japanese women, the standard for being perceived as "feminine" is relatively extreme as both Japanese men and women tend to be thinner. If a Japanese woman were to develop the fast twitch physique needed to be a great sprinter, she will be much more of a visual anomaly in Japan than she would in other places in the world.
If you are a teenage girl (especially one living in a collectivist society), there are very clear barriers in terms of self esteem and body image that will make sprinting unappealing for most. An American girl will have similar barriers, but they are significantly lower due to the average body type of a woman in America being thicker than Japanese women.
Japanese men are less effected by this standard as the sprinters physique is more masculine.
In Conclusion: Japanese women have more to lose from competitive sprinting in terms of socio-cultural beauty standards compared to their men than other nations.
While I agree with your general point, somehow this is a less serious issue for other sports like swimming, volleyball and basketball. They are not as jacked up as their Western counterpart, but at least do not shy away from bulking up in the way track athletes do.
This is actually an interesting point. I suspect this may be largely a cultural issue in terms of beauty standards. If you look at the best female sprinters on Earth, they are almost universally jacked. And if they aren't jacked they are lanky at a minimum.
I don't consider Gabby Thomas, Femke Bol, Syd, Tamari Davis, TT Terry, Jenna Prandini or Abby Steiner to be "jacked." I thought of all of these sprinters within a few seconds so I am sure that there are a lot of others. Thomas & Bol are lanky but I don't consider the others I mentioned to be lanky either.
Bol looks significantly more muscular today than she did five years ago. And she has been lifting quite a lot.
A 2020 Female World Athlete of the Year nominee, Femke Bol announced herself on the European stage with a stunning performance in 2019 at the U20s Championsh...
Because it’s about as womanly as weight lifting….how many female Asian Olympic weightlifters are there?
Four women from China, two from Chinese Taipei, and one each from Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan won medals in the last Olympics. That's 12 out of 21 medals. The three lightest classes were swept by Asian lifters.
The weightlifting competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo took place from 24 July to 4 August 2021 at the Tokyo International Forum. Competition schedule Qualification The number of weightlifters at these Games was r...
