slam wrote:
Why???? I just don't get this move. He is only what, 24? 25?
He has huge potential on the track and could very well make the team at 5,000m or 10,000m. He has years to make the team in the marathon, why not concentrate on the track events right now? I don't understand these people who jump straight to the marathon.
Honestly, this represents very antiquated thinking.
24 or 25 are not young ages for world class runners, even American ones who might be a bit behind some others developmentally. They are at the very least the start of their prime.
Chris has good but not great potential on the track. He probably has good but not great potential in the marathon as well. By which I mean that he is likely to be among the top Americans at either event but may struggle to compete with world elites.
If he wants to stick with the track, he should do that. If he wants to go to the Marathon, he should do that. There is no logical reason to continue running track because "he can do marathons later." This is not what world class runners are doing these days. Of course a large incentive to move to the marathon is that there is simply more money available there than there is on the track.