Meb does not have the most wins or the fastest times in American history, but with a Silver medal, a NYC win, and a Boston win: Is he the most accomplished American marathoner of all time? Those Americans from the 1970s and whatever (Shorter, Rodgers, etc) never had the East African pool of competition to deal with. I would have to say there's at least a reasonable argument to be made to say Meb is the American GOAT.
1 Salazar
2 Rodgers
3 Shorter
4. Benoit
5. Meb
It's close, but I case my vote for Bill Rodgers. Raced a lot, raced on practically every continent, raced against the best competition there was at the time, and, with startling consistency, prevailed. He was almost certainly the best in the world for 5 or 6 years (in the sense that, if you had to bet on just one guy in a race with him in it, you'd be smart to bet it on him).
Close runners up, and in no particular order: Frank Shorter, Clarence Demar, Buddy Edelen, Meb.
Dave155 wrote:
1 Salazar
2 Rodgers
3 Shorter
4. Benoit
5. Meb
Oh.. It thought we were just ranking the men. If we're including women, then it's Joanie. Gold medal, world record, unbeatable for, what, seven years? /E.O.T.
1. Frank Shorter ('72 Gold, '76 Silver, 4 x Fukuoka, 2:10AR)
2. Meb Keflizighi ('04 Silver, '12 4th, NYC/Boston, 2:08)
3. Bill Rodgers (4 x NYC, 4 x Boston, 2:09AR)
4. Alberto Salazar (NYC, 3 x Boston, 2:08WR)
5. Ryan Hall ('08 Oly 10th, Trials Winner, 2:04AR)
6. Khalid Khannouchi (4 x Chicago, London Winner, 2:05WR)
RIP: D3 All-American Frank Csorba - who ran 13:56 in March - dead
RENATO can you talk about the preparation of Emile Cairess 2:06
Running for Bowerman Track Club used to be cool now its embarrassing
Great interview with Steve Cram - says Jakob has no chance of WRs this year
Hats off to my dad. He just ran a 1:42 Half Marathon and turns 75 in 2 months!
2017 World 800 champ Pierre-Ambroise Bosse banned 1 year for whereabouts failures
2024 College Track & Field Open Coaching Positions Discussion