The best Olympic sport for your body type
Nature or nurture?
From the minute one of his young athletes took her first few strides, Pete Sherry sensed she would be a star. "She had a little different spring in her step, she was muscular for her age, she was very efficient," recalls Sherry, a professional runner-turned-massage therapist who now coaches high school track and cross country in the District of Columbia area. He was right: The girl went on to become a state champion. While there's no question that athletes must work hard to get to the top, natural features can give them a leg up in various sports. "Some of that you just can't teach," Sherry says. Here are seven examples:
Table tennis
If the closest you've come to playing table tennis is competing in a college party knockoff, you can't be blamed for assuming the activity is more about precision than fitness. But don't be fooled: "Table tennis players are very fit" and probably train like sprinters, Sherry says, since the sport requires them to be incredibly quick on their feet. The three men on Team USA's table tennis team, for instance, range in height from 5 feet 5 inches to 6 feet 1 inch, but all have lean figures with normal-to-low body mass indexes. "Fitness is important in any sport," Sherry says. "It prevents injuries, it keeps you healthy, it keeps your weight down."
Weightlifting
While nutrition and fitness shape the body, those factors have their limits. In a sport like weightlifting, for instance, genetics and muscle fiber types can make or break a star, says Felicia Stoler, an exercise physiologist and registered dietitian in Red Bank, New Jersey. "Stockier people, because of their muscle mass, are better with more of the strength-type sports," she says, although it's possible to work past that, she adds. Naturally lean athletes who are required to bulk up, on the other hand, "may just tap out and still look like a string bean," Stoler says.
Best photos from the 2016 Olympics so far:
Taekwondo
Tall people typically excel at basketball or volleyball, broad-shouldered folks tend to be advantaged in the pool and lanky, non-muscular types often do well at distance running. But such generalities can't be made for sports with various weight classes like taekwondo or boxing, says Marko Damiani, a former professional taekwondo competitor who now trains athletes and others at DavidBartonGym Century City in Los Angeles. "Fighters, you can't really tell." He chose the sport in part because it suited his competitive nature, which favors individual events over team activities. "You need to choose a sport you like," Damiani says. "You need to enjoy it."
Track and field: marathon
At 5 feet 7 inches, Teal Burrell was too tall for gymnastics and too short for basketball. So, she took up running, which the Olympic trials marathon competitor credits for her strong legs. Still, elite distance runners often have a certain physique – one that's not too tall or heavy, Burrell says, since smaller bodies generate less heat. Women may also be advantaged in endurance events, Stoler says, since they tend to store more body fat than men. And the idea that long legs give runners an advantage? Not necessarily so, since lanky limbs can weigh athletes down, says Shawn Arent, director of the New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health at Rutgers University.
Track and field: pole vault
Arent, who's also an associate professor of exercise science and sports studies at Rutgers University, often gives students the same advice: "If you want to be an elite athlete, pick your parents well," he says. Sherry, the track and cross country coach who owns Virginia-based Sherry Therapy, also finds that some people appear to be crafted to participate in specific events. He coached one pole vaulter who could jump 17 feet, for instance, who was tall, thin, broad-shouldered and able to put on muscle. "You see that kid and you're like, 'pole vaulter.'" Such advantageous features, Arent adds, are well-tracked by recruiters. "They're basically trying to chase the prototype," he says.
Rowing
While successful rowers must have strong upper and lower bodies, there's no one ideal size, Arent says. Members of the U.S. women's rowing team, for instance, range in weight from 110 to 190 pounds, and in height from 5 feet 4 inches to 6 feet 3 inches. Like soccer, he says, "anybody could do this and it just so happens there's a sport that fits multiple body types." That's important for regular folks to keep in mind when they're looking for a new activity, since it's easy to find Masters rowing and other clubs in many cities, says Sherry, who took up kayaking later in life. "I like being on the water," he says.
Track and field: decathlon
Some people are naturally quick, others are born to tackle and others still are the "hybrid" type who seem to excel at it all, Arent says. For them, an event like the decathlon is a good match. "You don't usually find the ones that excel at distance to be the best thrower," so the top finishers are usually the ones who find the best balance, he says. To find your best match, consider what type of activities you enjoyed or excelled at as a kid, explore what's available in your area and think about how they match your personality. "Nobody," Stoler says, "should feel restricted by their body types."
