The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance

Epstein often uses an individual’s biography as a launching pad to discuss a larger topic in the science of athletic excellence. Select one person he profiles in The Sports Gene and evaluate how the biographical details—both sports- and non-sports-related—contribute to a deeper or more nuanced understanding of the topic at hand.

Epstein profiles myriad physiological types and variations: high and low responders to training, people predisposed to excel at explosive sports or endurance sports, people with a high motivation to perform physical activity and people without. Epstein identifies himself as someone who likely carries the gene for being a high responder. Without sequencing your own genome, can you identify with any of the groups or traits discussed in The Sports Gene? How does this trait affect your life? How are you different from people you know, or similar to people in your family? What narratives do you have about yourself that may be attributable to genes?

In “The Heartbreak Gene,” Epstein says, "The ACTN3 gene may tell a billion or so people in the world that they won’t be in the Olympic 100-meter final, but chances are they all already knew that” (265). What does he mean by this? What is he saying more broadly about the function of genetic testing in sports? What is the counterpoint to this perspective?

Epstein labors to reveal the economic components in the evolution of sports, in genetic science as it relates to athletic performance, and also in individual athletes’ lives. Identify and evaluate three examples in The Sports Gene of how money and science, or money and sports, interact.

Epstein writes about his subjects with an authorial distance typical of long-form journalism, but occasionally he inserts himself into the narrative, whether it be in a personal memory or a story wherein he spends time with the subject of an interview. Select one instance of this and evaluate the significance and the narrative effect of Epstein’s presence in a given story. What does his narrator’s presence lend the story that it wouldn’t have otherwise? What do the readers learn that they couldn’t learn otherwise?

In “The Heartbreak Gene,” Epstein uncovers several examples of genetic mutations with adverse, sometimes lethal, effects. Whether or not to test for these mutations presents a dilemma for athletes, and, when testing is done, what to do with the results presents a challenge for athletes and the doctors who clear them for participation in sports. Evaluate the pros and cons of individuals electing to test themselves for the mutations mentioned in this chapter. 

One part of Epstein’s project in The Sports Gene seems to be unearthing and reporting scientific truth, without regard to social upset. Select an example of a fact or finding in the book that could be considered controversial. What might be some effects on the status quo, positive or negative? Whose interests are at stake with this information?

In The Sports Gene, Epstein tracks how politics interacts with sports. Whether it be how a civil war in Sudan potentially prevents world-class runners from being recruited and trained or how changing gender politics in a given society changes women’s participation in sports, the connections are many and varied. Select and analyze three instances of political implications of sports, or political motivations inside sports, as discussed in the book.