Why are Jamaicans so good at sprinting?

Jamaicans dominated the Olympic 100-meter sprint this weekend , with Usain Bolt setting a world record and his teammates taking all three medals in the women's event.   Jamaica is a poor, tiny nation about half the size of New Jersey. What makes its people such champion sprinters?

A combination of nature and nurture. Runners of West African descent—which includes Jamaicans as well as most African-Americans—seem to be built for speed: In 2004, they held all but five of the 500 best times in the 100-meter dash. (East Africans, such as Kenyans and Ethiopians, rule the long-distance field.) Several biological factors may be coming into play here. One study conducted in Quebec in the 1980s found that black West African students had significantly higher amounts of "fast-twitch" muscle fibers—the kind that are responsible for short, explosive bursts of action—than white French Canadians did. (So far, there is no evidence that even extensive training can turn slow-twitch muscles into fast-twitch ones, though moving in the other direction is possible.)

Auckland and Blues scrum-half Taniela Moa will join the All Blacks squad in South Africa as a replacement for Andy Ellis, who has aggravated his rib injury.

Moa is set to play for Auckland against Taranaki in the Air New Zealand Cup on Sunday before flying to Cape Town next week.

Half-backs Jimmy Cowan and Piri Weepu are already part of the All Blacks 26-man travelling squad.

A team spokesman said on Friday that Ellis' ribs, first injured during the Bledisloe Cup/Tri-Nations Test against Australia in Sydney two weeks ago, were aggravated in training this week.

The 10-times capped All Black was ruled out of selection after medical assessment when the team assembled on Thursday night.

Coach Graham Henry said that both Ellis and Cowan were "in good shape". Both were injured in the defeat to the Wallabies in Sydney on July 26.

Ellis missed the return Test in Auckland, but Cowan overcame his knee injury to start and produce a star performance.

South Africa's Olympic rower Ramon Di Clemente flew out of Johannesburg for Beijing on Wednesday to make it his third Olympic Games in a row in which he will be competing with his third partner after being at the top of his internationally competitive game for an incredible 12 years.

Di Clemente, 33, has also claimed the South African Coxless Heavyweight title 11 times with three different partners.

"Remaining at the top of your game, competing against the best of the best in the world, for over a decade is a phenomenal achievement," said Paolo Cavalieri, himself a skilled rower who managed the Barcelona Olympic rowing squad and is the former CEO of Hollard Insurance who has sponsored Di Clemente for the past eight years.

The Wallabies will be using Saturday's much-anticipated Tri-Nations Test against New Zealand as a springboard to becoming the top nation in world rugby, coach Robbie Deans said on Friday.

There is a belief in the Australian camp that, after four undefeated matches under the Wallabies' first foreign coach, they can prevail in their biggest challenge so far against their trans-Tasman rivals.

If the Wallabies were to register back-to-back Bledisloe Cup wins over the All Blacks in Sydney and Auckland over the next nine days, they would go to the top of the IRB rankings for the first time in the system's five-year history.

Ricky Januarie produced a marvelous individual try to set up a historic 30-28 victory for the Springboks over the All Blacks in their Tri-Nations rugby test match played at Carisbrook in Dunedin on Saturday.

The nuggety scrumhalf’s magical try in the 74th minute, converted by Francois Steyn, carried the Springboks to their first ever victory in Dunedin and their first in New Zealand since 1998.

Two generations of world cup champions made guest appearances at the launch of the 2008 U18 Craven Week being hosted at Affies in Pretoria.

Players from the 2007 World Cup squad, Wynand Olivier, Fourie du Preez and Danie Rossouw were photographed with the Balie Swart from the 1995 Bok winning side.

Spain will play at the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa after becoming European champions with a 1-0 victory in Sunday's Vienna final.

Match-winner Fernando Torres and his teammates are the seventh team to be confirmed for the June 14-28, 2009 tournament, in five South African cities in an event which is also a rehearsal for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in the country.

Spain join hosts South Africa, world champions Italy and champions from the Fifa confederations - apart from Europe - United States, Brazil, Iraq and Egypt.

South African teenagers are obese couch potatoes and the biggest smokers in Africa. But come 2020 they will be the fittest in the world.

This is according to Professor Tim Noakes, renowned sports scientist at UCT, who said the dubious reputation of having unfit and overweight children could be reversed within 12 years. 

SportstourSA is proud to introduce the inaugural Cape Town International Golf Tour Challenge for 2009.  

We’ll be running two events, one for Independent Senior Schools and one for Prep Schools.

• The inaugural Cape Town International Golf Tour Challenge for Preparatory Schools
  

28^th March – 9^th April 2009

• The inaugural Cape Town International Golf Tour Challenge for Independent Schools     

           17^th August – 30^th August 2009

 The tours include seven days of golf, economy class flights, 3-star Accommodation with breakfast, Airport Transfers and Ground Transportation in Cape Town. We are also including visits to Table Mountain, Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, a Township Tour, a visit to Robben Island and a trip to Aquila Private Game Reserve to see the Big Five - all at the amazing price of just £1825 per person.

The Tournaments are open to teams of 4 golfers, although schools may enter two or more teams in either tournament. (We offer one free staff place for every 8 players, a 50% discount for the staff member bringing a team of 4)