Cut and Run
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Legions of athletes, sports gurus, and scientists have tried to figure out why Kenyans dominate long-distance running. In this short, we stumble across a surprising, and sort of terrifying, explanation.
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RIDILEB is supported by AT&T. We all love to connect via video calls or texts. Right now, at AT&T, you can get the new iPhone 18 Pro for $0 with iPhone trade-in. Any condition. It has the ultimate pro camera system and big leap in battery life, so you can turn this deal into a long-lasting connection. Learn how you can trade in your iPhone for the new iPhone 18 Pro requires trade-in of iPhone 14 or higher, excluding iPhone 16E, an eligible plan. Terms and restrictions apply, subject to change, visit an AT&T store for details. Hey, I'm Jada Boomerad. I'm Robert Crobert. This is Radio Lab, the podcast. And today, since we are right about to have the New York City Marathon zip through our neighborhoods in New York. We have a puzzle. Yeah. It's a puzzle. It's a puzzle. Yes, it is a puzzle and it comes from NPR's East Africa correspondent, Gregory Warner. I've prepared for this story by taking a jog through Nairobi. Well, all right, so where do we start with this, Greg? I think we should start in 1968. I mean, there's a lot of places we could start, but let's start there. Let's try it. In 1968, Summer Olympics in Mexico City, at 7,900 feet, one of the highest elevated Olympics. And that's difficult for runners because there's less oxygen. And one of the big races that everybody's looking forward to is the 1,500 meter between the 23-year-old American favorite, Jim Ryan, he's the world record holder, and this guy named Kip Chogi Keanu. Kip Keanu, number 565. Kip Keanu, he's got Kip Keanu. They bill him as an untrained, nandy tribesman from Kenya. He's actually a policeman from a long line of cattle rustlers. And here's what you need to know about Kip. He's running three different races at this Olympics. Not only the 1,500, but also the 5,000 meter and the 10,000 meter. If you include the qualifying matches, he'll be running six Olympic events in eight days. Wow. Six races in eight days, which would never be done today, was hardly done then. So first up. The 10,000 meter. The 10,000 meter race. He's in a lead two laps away from finishing when he collapses. He falls off the track. He gets rushed to the Kenyan doctor who's a German guy who diagnoses him with a gallbladder infection, which turns out is incredibly painful, actually hurts the most when you take deep breaths, like when you're running. And if you don't treat it, your gallbladder could burst. So basically the doctor sends Kip to bed and says, "There's no way you can run." But Kip, he runs the next race anyway, ends up getting silver.
Transcription truncated.
Legions of athletes, sports gurus, and scientists have tried to figure out why Kenyans dominate long-distance running. In this short, we stumble across a surprising, and sort of terrifying, explanation.