Search

Since its creation, the marathon has been dominated by athletes from various continents. From the 1960s, Africans began to stand out, but from the 1990s/2000s, the numbers of Africans' athletes increased, and they got better results. The aim of this research was to analyze the evolution of African runners and the reasons why they have continuously improved their performance in these marathons over the years and their place in the world rankings. The website of the World Athletics was searched for the top 50 marathon runners between the years 2001 and 2019, and their evolution was compared to athletes from other continents. There was an increase the presence of African runners between the years 2001 and 2019 from 52 to 90% for the men and 22 to 90% for the women from mainly two countries: Kenya, 57.1 ± 11.8% men and 22.9 ± 10.5% women; and Ethiopia, 23.3 ± 15.7% men and 33.3 ± 19.9% women. During the last 18 years, these percentages have further increased for the world ranking of African athletes, especially Kenyans and Ethiopians with a significant decrease in the number of athletes from other continents. The main reasons for this phenomenon are talent, tradition, economic factor, favorable biotype, and physiological aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]