[quote]David P wrote:
How about David Bedford or Alberto Salazar? Both had the potential to be two of the greatest distance runners in history but both were chronic overtrainers. Neither could understand that recovery is part of training.[quote]
Yeah man, they were real underachievers.
Beckham plays soccer, so there is no reason to call him a loser. Doing so is simply redundant.
Soccer in itself is a breeding ground of wasted talent.
Mark Lewis Francis - ran 10.1 at 17 the fastest ever at that age and then ran an amazing 9.97 when only 19. No other athlete has even come close to running as fast as Lewis-Francis did as a teenager. Justin Gatlin and Asafa Powell are both exactly the same age as Lewis-Francis, yet at the time Lewis-Francis was considered the better athlete by some margin. He was an amazing talent, and it was considered by many that a world record was inevitable.
Yet, astonishingly, Lewis Francis has actually become slower as he has moved into his twenties. Although athletes peak around their late 20s in the sprints, Lewis-Francis seemed to peak in his late teens. He has turned down numerous invitations to train with the top sprinters like Justin Gatlin in America, and prefers to stay living in England on the grounds that he would get 'home-sick.'
Tested positive for cannabis in 2005. OK won an Olympic relay gold but has done virtually nothing in the individual 100m.
Usain Bolt
Surprised no one has mentioned Granville who holds every record for the 800 outdoors(class and national), and the 800 indoors. Got a high placing as a leg of a 4x4(champions or AA?), but never lived up to his promise. Now a stand-up comic I believe.
He seemed so physically over developed for his age in high school, plus Dad was his coach, so it appeared he was pretty close to his potential early on?
Lewis Francis has an Olympic Gold Medal. That was the best run of his life, he wouldn't swap that for the World.
Also, I think it's a safe bet that he isn't on steroids, unlike many of his rivals, because if he is, they sure as hell aint working.
Umberger, Rachel 11 Concord 2:11.94 (NH Record)
Umberger, Rachel 11 Concord 4:57.77
She also ran sub 60 for the 400 and around 11 minutes for 3200. She went to UNC (I think) then transferred to UNH and did absolutely nothing with her running.
True, but he was still progressing each year.
A guy I forgot is Franklyn Sanchez who ran 8:49yi, and a very fast 5K outdoors. Did not do much afterwards.A rival of Powell's who's been mentioned.
Titan wrote:
Did Abdirizak have any speed, he seemed a bit slow for a great track talent?
He ran 1:51 in the 800 as a prep. I think he was low 1:21 in the 600 too.
she went to duke then unh
tigranya wrote:
Rich Rogers from New Bedford, MA. Saw this kid run his first competitive 1500 in Knoxville, TN and 5k in MS in late 90's. Ran 3:54 and low-15's. Never ran it seriously again and tried to make himself an 800 runner.
All-Time Wasted Talent?
ABDIRIZAK MOHAMMED: NOONE in this country was more talented than that guy. Do not compare him to anyone: Webb, Ritz, Hall--NOONE. He was not human!
On another thread someone said that Abdirizak Mohammed used to smoke cigarettes all the time
ABDIRIZAK MOHAMMED - what ever happened to him? anyone know what he's doing now?
Brian Grosso. I'm sure others have mentioned him. Too bad family couldn't have persuaded him from going pro following HS.
j squire wrote:
Chris Nelloms. 13.30/20.47/45.36 and three World Jr golds needs no more explanation on how good he was. His first mistake was going to OSU and running for Russ Rogers -- RR NEVER ran Nelloms in either of his best events, the 400 or the hurdles. His mistakes after that were a bit more legendary.
Hi there, I'm Chris Nelloms and I am in the big house:
http://www.drc.state.oh.us/OffenderSearch/Details.aspx?id=A372261&pg=xHow about David Mack? Third fastest U.S. 800m all-time (1:43.35)for Univ. of Oregon and Santa Monica TC in '85, now doing hard time...
PBS-Frontline...
"LAPD officer David Mack was convicted of the November 1997 theft of $722,000 from a Bank of America branch in Los Angeles. Two days after the bank robbery, Mack took a gambling trip to Las Vegas with two other police officers, including Raphael Perez. In the course of investigating the bank robbery, detectives developed leads that caused them to believe, at the time, that Mack was a possible suspect in the 1997 murder of east-coast rap star, Biggie Smalls, a.k.a., the Notorious B.I.G. Mack is currently serving a 14 year sentence and has reportedly claimed association as a Piru Blood, an L.A. gang with ties to Death Row Records. He was sentenced to 14 years and three months in federal prison.[1] Mack has never revealed the whereabouts of the money.
David Mack grew up in the same Compton neighborhood as Suge Knight.[2] A remarkable athlete, Mack won a scholarship to the University of Oregon, where he ran track and eventually made the United States national team running the eight hundred metres.[3][2] Mack joined the LAPD in 1988. He was married with two kids.
Mack is a member of the Bloods, a gang with ties to Death Row Records. Mack was hired as an off-duty body guard for Death Row Records by Death Row Founder Marion "Suge" Knight, also a Blood. Investigating LAPD detective Brian Tyndall believes David Mack was involved in the conspiracy to kill rapper Notorious B.I.G..[4] Mack was named in the April 16, 2007 wrongful death lawsuit filed by the rapper's family against the city of Los Angeles.[5]
Mack has refused to cooperate with police, and bragged to fellow prisoners that his $700,000 bank score is invested in such a way that it will double by the time he concludes his 14 year sentence.[2] While in prison, Mack has severed his ties with police and become an avowed member of the Bloods street gang. Mack's jailers report he uses a red toothbrush, wears red socks, and as much red as can be attained in a federal prison. According to former LA Police Chief Bernard Parks, "It appears he has completely divested himself of all relationships of his life as a police officer. He is basically a gang member. He has taken on the role of being a gang member in jail."[2] Mack apparently had a gang-related confrontation while in prison that resulted in his being stabbed.[6]
David Mack is a great example of someone who made some bad decisions. Another name that comes to my mind is Houston McTear.
Remember Earl Jones? Bronze medal in 1984 in the 800M. I am not sure what happened, I think he was in a car wreck or something in South America. But I saw him at Hillsdale (1986 or 1987) hanging aroung the track eyeballing and learing at the female track competitors. Fat and making a fool of himself with crude comments and weird facial expressions. We felt kind of sorry for him. What a waste.
Kim Mortensen. (Pls. read qualifier below re: "wasted talent.")
Ran 9:48 in 1996 to set national HS girls 3200 meter record. Went to UCLA had some health issues. Saw her run in HS-- amazingly fluid form... just dominated.
Heard she is coaching now-- and having great success at it. So maybe she was, in the the end, not a "wasted" talent.
Believe it's unfair to label any young runner as a "wasted talent"-- so much goes into a "successful" and long running career... not the least of which is luck. You have to come to terms with winning the genetic lotto (in a sport you may or may not have passion for), naviagate young adulthood (which is hard-enough without the microscope of Div. I sports), find/create the right training environment, gel with a coach, push your body to the limit almost daily-- while staying injury-free, and even-- avioding freak injuries... see the stories about Paul McMullin, Jeff Nelson, etc.)
My thought is-- if you come out the other side and are still able to run and enjoy it... maybe share it with others-- nothing has been wasted... and much has been gained along the way.
There was talent then. He beat Riley, Jennings, Slattery among others. What was trully remarkable about Mohamed was that he barely trained and that is straight from his coach.Ritz and co trained well in HS. Who knows how good he might have been,but what he did achieve on so little training was remarkable.