Talent in the sport is a person with capacities and abilities above the average population, with characteristics that stand out between those of his age for physical performance. The question of the origin of talent was reviewed, which led to the problem of What determines the sporting talent, the inheritance, the environment or both? The objective was to find the answer in the literature to facilitate the selection of talents. Books, articles and research on the subject were reviewed. It was searched in libraries and databases, both in Spanish and in English. After the encoding of the human genome in 2001, scientists studied the relationship between genes and the environment and discovered that some genes intervene in physical performance. Other research has established that hard and continuous work also allows for high performance if it is deliberately working for at least a decade. Many researchers and coaches have shown with sporty results that a mixture of genetics and environment is required to achieve the desired performance. The new theories and methods in the selection and preparation of young athletes is taking the sport of performance to another level.