What athletes have gone far despite having the 'wrong' body type for their sport?

frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 112 points –

e.g.

Chiyonofuji: sumo wrestler with low body fat

Mike Tyson: heavyweight boxer who is short

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Usain bolt, to some extent

What’s wrong with his body?

I think he’s taller than usual, so it takes him longer to accelerate at the start, but then he makes up for it with long strides.

IIRC: He takes 2 or 3 less strides to reach the 100m finish than most sprinters.

Being tall is not ideal for short distance sprinting.

Meh. He is a bit taller than the norm at 6' 5" for a 100m sprinter, but for over the past 50 years every single 100m gold medalist has been 6' to 6 3".

So really, he's only 2" taller than most champions.

Which is a lot when you are at that level of competition.