David Epstein – ‘The Sports Gene’ author (Part 1) – Why Champions are Champions

In one of 2014’s ‘highlight’ podcasts, New York Times best-selling author David Epstein simplifies genetics and explains that intricate relationship between nature and nurture. David Epstein’s research took him to all corners of the globe and you’ll hear about ‘Superbaby’ (a newborn with muscles sculpted like a powerlifter), ‘A tale of two high jumpers’ (no hints, spoiler alert), and a person whose genes drove her to exercise so much that she had to talk to David on her cellphone while running around an airport parkade. You’ll be convinced that the ’10,000 hours’ argument (Malcolm Gladwell – Outliers) needs to be put in the scientific trash can. Thought-provoking and entertaining, David Epstein should be a household name for the BJSM community. David delivered the President’s lecture at the 2014 AMSSM Annual Meeting (New Orleans). Recorded at the Summit – Leaders in Performance – New York (June 17/18 2014); with permission from Leaders (James Worrall) See also: This podcast builds on a 2012 podcast and paper by Ross Tucker (“What makes a champion?”) - Podcast: bit.ly/1oJNJ1R, Paper: R Tucker, M Collins bit.ly/1iJG3Vp David’s TED Talk “Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger?”: bit.ly/SVMy09 What makes champions? A review of the relative contribution of genes and training to sporting success: http://bit.ly/XmmYEY The genetic basis for elite running performance: http://bit.ly/1oUPx6x Podcast- David Epstein – ‘The Sports Gene’ author (Part 2) – Hearts and blood: http://bit.ly/1t2rEJK