The latest discovery about the fastest runners on the planet.

According to the results of a recent study, fast runners don't achieve their speed through long-term training, but rather because they are born with qualities that allow them to run fast.

Usain Bolt, the fastest man on the planet. (Source: AP)

Representing the Biology and Psychology departments at Grand Valley University (USA), Dr. Michael Lombardo and Robert Deaner discovered that the world's top sprinters demonstrated their innate abilities even before receiving professional training.

The study was small in scope but highly reliable. It included 26 sprinters, 15 of whom had won Olympic gold medals and eight of the fastest male sprinters in U.S. history.

Examinations of their backgrounds revealed that innate speed was the answer to the abilities of almost all the athletes in the study, evidenced by the fact that the average time they needed to become top athletes in their field was less than 5 years.

Having been sprinters themselves, Lombardo and Deaner said they weren't surprised by the study's results, but the degree of consistency in innate ability among top athletes was something they hadn't anticipated.

“Rob and I both participated in sprinting in college and we followed the sport very closely. Therefore, we anticipated that the biographies of sprint champions would show that most were the fastest kids in their neighborhoods before they received serious training. But the consistency of that surprised us – from Helen Stephens, the 1936 Olympic champion, to Usain Bolt, they all demonstrated their talent before entering professional competition,” Dr. Lombardo shared.

This study presented results that contradicted what David Shenk, a geneticist, wrote in his book "The Genius in All of Us." In that book, Shenk denied innate talent and argued that success comes from hard work and practice. According to Shenk, anyone can reach expert level after about 10 years or 10,000 hours of practice.

Doctors Lombardo and Deaner stated that their research findings should not discourage those with genuine dreams, and they also emphasized the interactive model of professional development.

“Our view is that talent isn’t everything. Practice is also incredibly important, especially the kind of practice that requires perseverance and effort. But in sports, innate talent is also essential,” Dr. Lombardo shared.

According to VNA