Olympic Weightlifting is an interesting case. Some of the qualities that predict weightlifting success -- high fast-twitch fibre ratio, for example -- predict success in plenty of other sports.

Whether a country excels at Weightlifting seems in large part to be a function of whether there is a more popular sport in that country. So in the Carribean potential lifters become sprinters, in the USA they become NFL players, in Australia rugby and AFL players and so on.