Bryshon Nellum : the next Michael Johnson?

absolutely...but i think you meant challenger for jeremy wariner's future record...right?

terps wrote:

2007 Gatorade National Youth Track and Field Athlete of the Year and 2007 U.S. Junior champion Bryshon Nellum won the men's 400 meters in 45.40 seconds at the 2007 Pan American Junior Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Is he going to be the future challenger for Michael Johnson's 43.18 400 m WR?

Eh, we'll see. It's way too tough to tell at his age. Remember, MJ was nothing more than a "good" sprinter on the national level through HS. He was nowhere near as good as Bryshon is now in either the 2 or the 4, and we all know how he ended up.

Then you've got guys like Obea Moore . . .

jeremy wariner is the current man, but Bryshon Nellum appears to be one of those stellar athletes who comes along and changes things. no disrespect to Wariner, but running that above average 200 in the US Champs is not exactly getting me excited about his longterm sprinting prowess, like MJ used to do.

The next Michael Johnson...

What happened to Brandon Couts

What happened to Obea Moore

What will happen to Bryshon Nellum

Until someone cracks 43.50 they shouldnt even be brought up.

terps wrote:

2007 Gatorade National Youth Track and Field Athlete of the Year and 2007 U.S. Junior champion Bryshon Nellum won the men's 400 meters in 45.40 seconds at the 2007 Pan American Junior Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Is he going to be the future challenger for Michael Johnson's 43.18 400 m WR?

Michael Johnson was a good, not great, HS runner.

Where's the comparison?

We'll never see a 10.09/19.32/43.18 guy again. More of a freak of nature than just another track athlete.

more importantly, who and where is the next robert johnson?

kids run that fast every year

uh, you missed one:

darrell robinson...only 44.69 in high school.

didn't run a whole lot faster than that after.

what prevented this guy form running in the 42s?

exactly, im tired of all of this hype business. I mean prime example, who is to say the "X-MAN" is gonna do anything else. People practically had his nuts in his mouth. But since Nationals I haven't seen one post on how awesome he is gonna be. Not to say he isn't talented (i could only wish) but let people get somewhere close with CONSISTENCY before people start comparing them to LEGENDS of the GAME i.e

Carl Lewis

Maurice Greene

Michael Johnson

Like it or not (whether its racial, hate, or just a loser) but Wariner and Angelo Taylor are the only current 400 meter runners that could threaten Johnson's record.

while this dude is a phenomenal talent..

LaShawn Merritt ran 45.25 during the summer after his senior year (2004)..so its only been 3 years since someone in HS has run faster than Nellum..

and LsM made big improvements during his brief stint in college...that kinda improvement isnt a given..

the dude has huge potential, and could certainly be a player in the years to come, but its in no way automatic..

There's been several guys in the last few years who have had their name attached to the question 'the next MJ?'

Wariner

Merritt

Clement

Gay (for the deuce)

Probably someone else

I don't know if anyone is going to have the 200/400 capabilites that MJ had.

Wariner doesn't have the 200 speed, not yet at least, and probably will never run under 19.9, but he might get the 400 record.

If Merritt breaks 44 this season, he'll be the only runner, aside from MJ, to ever go sub 20/sub 44. If there's anyone who looks like they might be able to come close to duplicating MJs abilities, it is Merritt.

there is a junior in high school from missouri right now that has run 10.26, 20.77, and split a 45.8 (not sure what his open 400m time is). he and bryshum should have some good college showdowns

We should be asking...\"will Bryshon Nellum become the next Obea Moore?\"

Nellum is off to a great start. The guy I like that I have not seen mentioned is Betters from Baylor. That guy looks to be a real challenger to Wariner in a couple years.

Let's not forget William Reed(1988) and Chris Nelloms. How about Henry Thomas? There are more talneted runners that do not achieve their potential, than do.

The other day I was thinking of all of the great HS distance runners that did not come close to their potential. Just from the Kinney-FootLocker winners, the short list of runners that did well are: Giusto, Reina, Davis, and Kennedy.

Only if we can do it all over again!

PT

I'd throw Adam Goucher in there too. I'd say he's done alright with his career. But it does seem to be the exception and not the rule when somebody runs up to their potential.

I only included those that I know have completed their careers. Graduating hs in 87, I am out of touch with the names after Louie Q.

Jow have the next 10, or so, winners panned out.

a few years ago Jack Shepard of Track & Field News asked me to view an on-line video of a Texas prep runner who had a 20.57 in one of the lead-ups to the Texas State Meet over 200m. Jack was trying to figure out if the race was wind-aided, which the flag flying straight out from the pole next to the track kind of indicated to me as I watched it on-line. As I watched that race I thought, "Boy that guy has an economical stride for someone who can turn over 20.57 for 200m."

Bryshon Nellum is in that same mode, with a deceptive economy to his stride that carried him to a 20.43 200 in our state meet (which was his 7th race in two days and he is from a part of California where you do not typically race two days in a row). If you check his margin of victory in his last 400m races of the season (State 45.54 2nd 47.10, Jr's 45.38-46.24, Pan Ams 45.40-46.04) I still do not believe Nellum was all-out in the one lap event this spring. The guy in the first paragraph was Jeremy Wariner and I stake a number of decades of watching this sport on a judgment that Mr. Nellum is in the same league potentially. His development is definitely worth watching.