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| TrackCoach |
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I was thinking about some of the great performances from ’07, ’08 & ’09, such as Lagat winning WC and Olympic medals wearing a USA vest; Halls setting the AR in the half marathon and subsequently running 2:06 for the full marathon; Webb having a dominating year in ’07 setting the AR in the mile; Sol, Teg and Ritz running incredible times in the 5K/10K, Ritz, Shalane and Kara medaling in international championships; Meb won the NYCM in 2009; we had close to half a dozen steeplers capable of running 8:20 or better; Manzano and Lomong went straight from the NCAA champs to world-class athletes; Ulrey, McDougal, Wheating and Rupp were running some fast times while still in college, German Fernandez winning the NCAA mile champ as a freshman, Mel Lawrence, Jordan Hasay, Christine Babcock, Laurynne Chetelat and Caitlin Chock were rewriting the H.S. record books. And, Denna won the London Marathon and set the AR in 2006. – Going into 2010, there was tremendous optimism…except for Lagat, Rupp and Shalane, it seems like the momentum has stalled. I don’t ever recall a period where the top tier of American male MD and distance runners has remained practically the same for the last 5 years. The same cast of characters, Lagat, Sol, Teg, Ritz, Symmonds, KD, Meb, Hall, Abdi, Rupp, Manzano and Lamong for the most part have been the standard bearers and it does not appear to be changing very much. The athletes listed above have either qualified and/or will likely qualify for U.S. Olympic team in whatever event they choose. (Where are the new guys?) Quite a few athletes have dropped out of the top tier like Slattery, Fam, Webb, Jonathan Johnson, Torres, Christian Smith and Krum, etc., but very few have been added. Centro and perhaps Wheating & Jock have been added, but that’s about it. Granted, the faces in the steeple has completely changed in the last 5 years and there is a plethora of young 800 meter runners who will likely replace the current crop soon. The trend has been every Olympic cycle brings a couple of new faces, that does not appear to be the case this go around. There are a lot of athletes like Jager, Curtis, Torrence, Derrick, McNamara, Brown, Bumbalough, Heath, Batty and Lear, etc., who look really promising, but for now, they appear to be still on the outside looking in. Contrast that with the women, Alice Schmidt, Fleshman and Sara Hall are still around, but Shalane and Kara are about the only 2 women who are still are still in the top tier internationally from 5 years ago. 5 years ago it was McGregor, Willard, Moser, Donohue, Tiffany McWilliams, Hazel Clark, Teter, Amy Begley, Rhines, Kate O’Neill, Mortimer, Russell, Lisa Galaviz, Amy Rudolph, Kastor and Sara Slattery. No disrespect to those athletes because I know some have gracefully retired, some are still competing well and/or have been MIA because of injuries, but the new stars like Alysia Johnson, Huddle, Vessey, Uceny, Erica Moore, Hastings, Simpson, Desi, CWT and Rowbury, etc., where either just coming on the scene or partially still in the womb 5 years ago. I am still optimistic, last year Shalane, finished 3rd at the WXC and our women won a team; Meb, Hall and Shalane have finished in the top 3 in major marathons, Rupp set the AR in the 10K and the indoor 5K, Wheating ran 1:44/3:30 less than 2 years ago and Centro won a WC medal last year. And, I think we have the best crop of young 800 meter runners since the mid-80s. With that said and not discounting lot of other good performances I didn’t mention, I still have to ask…Why aren’t we producing new distance stars? |
| jjjjjj |
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??? Andrews, Jock, Wheating, Derrick, Centro, Batty, ...? |
| Help my Running |
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We have new Oly & world's medalists from USC: Jesse Williams Duke: Shannow Rowbury Colorado: Jenny Barringer Arnold MD: Matt Centrowitz Bend OR: Ashton Eaton Inglewood CA: Jason Richardson UNC: Shalane Flanagan Colorado: Kara Goucher UCLA: Meb Keflighizi did I miss anyone ? |
| Azaleas |
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Centro? |
| 7 Time major Medalist |
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Bernard Lagat of Flagstaff AZ |
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he's based in Tucson |
| casual commentary |
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eh for the 1500 at least I think there is enough turbulence and too many real fast faces for a constant. It seems like every year someone new at 3:35.00 or faster. As far as distance, you are seeing the illusion of stagnancy because you are looking at true cream of the crop talents. Sub 13 is special for anyone, doesn't matter nationality. We have five guys with that talent right now so of course their names will stick around for a while! Do you think the Kenyans lament that Eliud Kipchoge is still on top? Heck no, he's an amazing runner. Same goes for Lagat Ritz Teg Sol and probably this will be the year for Rupp! Why complain about top talent being around for "so long" we are talking the best here. Part of why they are still here is because they are the best. |
| toro |
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You just listed some steady athletes and all of the new stars such as Centro and Jock and the potential stars that seem to be falling short - Fernandez and Jager. And of course the women's 1500 is insanely improved. The men's 1500 is guaranteed to leave a world class athlete off the team. 4 under 13:00 in the 5. The men's 10,000 AR was knocked down by two different people in two years. The marathon Trials had a 2:09 performance not make the team. Go back and look at the '90's and early 2000's and see how much better the US is doing now in the distances. The US has never had so many distance stars at one time before. |
| Reality Bath |
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The OP is making a castle out of the smoke from his nethers. Athletes come and go, but last year was one of the best in U.S. distance history, and this year could easily match it. Personally I can't wait for what athletes like Derrick, Moore, Centro, Wheating, Andrews, Greer, Jock, Chapus & Weissenbach, Ajee, etc. etc will be doing in four years. Hell, an unkown High School girl just ran an off-the-cuff 33:17 just last weekend! If anything the depth of potential is scary.... |
| TrackCoach |
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Reread the OP and perhaps then repost. |
| TrackCoach |
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Not complaining about athletes being around for so long becasue that's a good thing, what I am asking is where are the new guys. |
| TrackCoach |
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Reread the OP and perhaps then repost. |
| Your tardedness |
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American estrogen filled Diet, Nike shoes with too much cushion, the internet, video games. |
| TrackCoach |
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I am not talking about potential ("Derrick, Moore, Centro, Wheating, Andrews, Greer, Jock, Chapus & Weissenbach, Ajee", "High School girl just ran an off-the-cuff 33:17 Ajee"), I am specifically talking about males you are ready right now. |
| well.... |
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I would say that adding Centro alone pretty much nullifies your argument. Plus, Wheating is way more of a recent development than you're indicating. He was an 800 runner 4 years ago. Also, I think by the end of the summer, we will see that Derrick, Bumbalough, Andrews, and Jager are "there" right now, and Teg and Solinsky are not. I definitely think there is a changing of the guarding going on right now. Don't forget that Rupp isn't exactly old. Wheating, Rupp, Centro - even Lomong and Manzano - are just not old at all. They developed very quickly. By contrast, Bumbalough, Torrence, Brown, Curtis...have all been steady developers. |
| troller of trolls |
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EVERYONE LOOK I CAN NAME A LOT OF AMERICAN RUNNERS! |
| Read THIS |
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We have many new stars that joined Washington State's Bernard Lagat in recent times. From DC area is Matt Centro's son who medalled at daegu 2012 worlds. From San Franciso proper, Shannon Rowbury medalled at Worlds. From U Colorado at Boulder we have Kara Goucher who medalled at Worlds. From U North Carolina at Chapel Hill we have Shalane Flanagan who medalled at Beijing 2008. From Bend, OR we have Ashton Eaton who medalled at Daegu Worlds. From U Colorado at Boulder we have 2012 World Champion Jenny Simpson, the 1st U.S. caucasian to eacrn a gold medal at a major international race since Orange, California's Mark Decker's historic double gold at Helsinki World's. So I don't know what you are taling about. The U.S. gas plenty of new distance stars in addition to marathon stars Ryan Hall of Stanford U, Desi Davila of Arizona State U, Abdi of Arizona U, and Deena Kastor of Ventura, California. |
| TrackCoach |
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Reread the OP and perhaps then repost. |
| TrackCoach |
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If the point was just to name runners, I could have just copy&paste a list from T&F News or something like that; the runners I named are specific and categorized to illustrate a point. Whether you agree or disagree, come back when you have something useful to add. Guys like you make stupid responses to other people’s post, which is an easy thing to do, but you never contribute anything interesting to the board, which requires a little effort. Please direct me to one post you have made that’s worth reading and I’m not talking about the ones where you type one line to insinuate someone who you know nothing about is doping. – When someone post something, agreeing or disagreeing is an option, being ignorant and childish should not be an option. |
| 5 Alive |
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Thank God we have the best stars in the T&F world and we have had a steady stream for over 100 years in America.
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