Free Republic

You’ll want to be ready if you find yourself on the receiving end of a Kate Hall medicine ball toss. I wasn’t. During a midday early May workout, Hall recruited me to catch her throws and roll the ball back to her. I moved to the middle of the infield at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland, Maine. From just inside the track, Hall sprang forward and heaved the 8-pound ball. Next thing I knew, the ball landed just in front of me, bounced, and crashed into my chest. It left a red mark on my sternum that lingered for a week....

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Andraya Yearwood hears the comments, usually from adults and usually not to her face. She shouldn’t be running, they say, not against girls. Yearwood, a 17-year-old junior at Cromwell High School, is one of two transgender high school sprinters in Connecticut, transitioning to female. She recently finished second in the 55-meter dash at the state open indoor track championships. The winner, Terry Miller of Bloomfield High, is also transgender...

Jamaican Me Speedy - Why are Jamaicans so good at sprinting? By Nina Shen Rastogi Posted Monday, Aug. 18, 2008, at 6:57 PM ET 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...