a lot of factors come into play such as: Culture, History, Language, Heritage, Diet. It is my general observation but I could always be wrong: Bangladeshi value intellect very highly(more than athletics). And Alhamdulillah! The Bangladeshi standard for Academic excellence is very very high(Something I never kept up with).
I pulled an around 30 all nighters for one class(those days when i rarely visited this site late 2008) and Alhamdulillah! I was so happy(super ecstatic) that i got a B in that class, and I told my mom, she was so upset why didn't you get an A? I was very heartbroken!
Moral of the story: Allah rewards intention: Humans only look at the end result!
Most of the Bangladeshis that study abroad are excellent in their respective fields of Academia. anything less than a 4.0 is PHAIL! OUCH! That's the impression I got, and that's what i said!
Many Bangladeshis who live in Dhaka, particularly people who are in their 50s suffer from Diabetes, Heart Disease partly because of our diet. As a culture, there is not that much emphasis on the human body in Bangladesh(times may have changed) unlike in the United States. If you are guy, you are strongly encouraged by your peers and people to get six pack abs/healthy body. and of course, most females in the United States are super conscious about their weight/perfect body. When I used to Live in Bangladesh, I remember there wasn't that much emphasis on getting a perfect figure/losing weight.
Americans are very health conscious, when I lived In Bangladesh, to me it seemed like We as a Society are not really health conscious. This could be a big factor why compared to so many intellectuals, we produce so little athletes.
Athletes, by default must maintain a healthy standard of living by eating right and maintaining in shape/healthy fit body. In America, it is not just athletes, your average Joe neighbor wakes up 4 am in the morning and starts jogging, I am not joking. In Bangladesh, the general population is not too concerned about that(although times may have changed).