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The Sports Gene
- Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
- Narrated by: David Epstein
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
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The Sports Gene
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Publisher's Summary
"In high school, I wondered whether the Jamaican Americans who made our track team so successful might carry some special speed gene from their tiny island. In college, I ran against Kenyans, and wondered whether endurance genes might have traveled with them from East Africa. At the same time, I began to notice that a training group on my team could consist of five men who run next to one another, stride for stride, day after day, and nonetheless turn out five entirely different runners. How could this be?"
We all knew a star athlete in high school. The one who made it look so easy. He was the starting quarterback and shortstop; she was the all-state point guard and high-jumper. Naturals. Or were they? The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training?
The truth is far messier than a simple dichotomy between nature and nurture. In the decade since the sequencing of the human genome, researchers have slowly begun to uncover how the relationship between biological endowments and a competitor’s training environment affects athleticism. Sports scientists have gradually entered the era of modern genetic research. In this controversial and engaging exploration of athletic success, Sports Illustrated senior writer David Epstein tackles the great nature vs. nurture debate and traces how far science has come in solving this great riddle.
What the critics say
What listeners say about The Sports Gene
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sandy M
- 2019-05-30
informative
A little hard to get into initially, once he began discussing people as it related to the science it became deeply interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in how to get a bit better, faster or enjoy their sport a little more.
The accents when speaking quotes were not necessary.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Allison McArdle
- 2019-08-01
A must read for sports professionals & enthusiasts
I really enjoyed this book. Its heavy on the science but presented in an easy to understand way. So much great information here, as a professional sports coach my cogs were constantly turning thinking about how the topics and concepts apply to my sport and how I train athletes.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lara Polak
- 2018-06-06
Amazing performance by master of voice didguises
Came for the insight on training, stayed for the voice impersonations. Seriously though, amazing book.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Steve
- 2017-11-13
a interesting story about the relationship bsgenes
I really enjoyed listening to this book. the one critique that I have about it however is the character voiceovers could have been spoken with the normal voice and not with accents
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Joel K Jackson
- 2020-07-10
Great read
To say that this book was interesting and engaging would be an understatement! Absolutely loved it!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Will Charbonneau
- 2019-08-29
the sports gene
the voice acting was horrendous, specifically the accents..
The story was incredible.
the information is important
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Wade Gomer
- 2019-08-22
Very interesting book
The book and writing are excellent, they should skip the terrible accents during the radingt.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Aaron Ehman
- 2019-06-01
very enlightening!!
loved this books look on genetics and sports! confirmed a lot of my suspicions on why we all do things better or worse than others
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Matthew Chabot
- 2018-09-17
Truly enlightening
If you have a vague interest in the world of high performance athletics and the role evolution and genetics takes in this venture, then this book is for you.
Full of great example stories and truly enlightening studies, readers/listeners will learn things they’ve never even considered. Well worth the listen! #Audible1
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- KH
- 2022-08-24
Accents
For some reason the narrator decided to imitate accents of people quoted in the book with extremely variable quality and accuracy. It’s a good book but the accents in the narration really take away from the listening experience.
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