Elite athletes distinguish themselves through hard work, grit and, most importantly, raw talent. However new research, along with a study conducted by New Scientist, points to another trait of the most accomplished jocks: a handsome face.
New Scientist reports on the story. Nobody is claiming that good looks are the source of athletic ability. Rather, scientists suspect that the same genetic patterns may be responsible for both. As one scientist researching on the phenomenon suggests, “athletic prowess may be a sexually selected trait that signals genetic quality.”
A survey conducted by a group of scientists at the University of Bristol asked Dutch women to rate the attractiveness of NFL quarterbacks. New Scientist ran a similar survey online involving male tennis players. In both cases there was a high correlation between the subjective rankings of an athlete’s attractiveness and the more objective rankings of that athlete’s success on the field.
What does this mean for runners? Well, I’m not so sure. Runners of shorter distances (like Olympic sprinters) often have quite impressive builds that many might find very attractive, but when it comes to marathons it seems the best of the best are often a little too thin to be rated as highly as amateurs when it comes to looks. Of course I have no data to back it up.
I am, however, reminded of a “Doctor Fun” cartoon.
Super interesting, Jason – thanks for sharing. It seems like a classic case of a scientist over working his test results though…
“As one scientist researching on the phenomenon suggests, ‘athletic prowess may be a sexually selected trait that signals genetic quality.’”
For me, I think it could be the fact that elite athletes need a lot of help from friends, family, other runners, coaches, etc., it helps to be attractive if you’re the one at the center of all attention, no?