SOLINSKY RETIRES

What's the problem? wrote:

areusure? wrote:

Comparing his 10k to that of Billy Mills...Were you alive or have at least studied your running history to understand who and what Mills did?

I don't get it. These two things seem equally significant to me:

-Native American orphan raised on a reservation upsets the entire world to win Olympic gold.

-Pro runner for Bowerman Track Club wins 10000m race at Payton Jordan Invitational and gets the American record.

Samesies, right?

It is only the same when you remember that Mills was the first American EVER to win 10k Olympic Gold ;-)

Thanks for a great career, Chris. My hat is off.

I still remember watching Chris' 2004 Footlocker victory over and over again on my home recorded VHS. He was so dominant! I still have the tape to this day. That race inspired me my entire senior year of high school. I remember getting chills watching your 10k American record. You have been a huge inspiration. I'm sure you loved the journey...thanks for letting us hitch along for the ride! Thanks Chris!

Hats off to Solinsky on a great career. I always enjoyed watching him race. I was in Terre Haute the year he crashed and burned, so it was fun to see him bounce back from that to string together a couple good years and a handful of phenomenal races.

That being said, I think it's a little over the top to tout him as a "legend" on the landing page. He was VERY good and had his time at the top of the record books which no one can ever take away from him, but let's reserve legend status for those who are, you know, legendary.

By that I mean, in 20 years will people still talk about Chris Solinsky? I think not. He will never be remembered like Pre, Shorter, Mills, Bob Kennedy, or even Meb. Shoot, love him or hate him, Galen Rupp will be closer to legendary status than Solinsky - partly because of the controversial nature of his team and partly because he was able to get it done on the biggest stage our sport has to offer.

Congrats to Chris. You'll be missed in the sport. But let's not blow this out of proportion.

sffdsaf wrote:

Solinsky's 10000, to me, is a greater performance than Billy Mills' Olympic win. For one, he broke a huge barrier that a U.S. runner had never come close to running before. Secondly, the time was 1 minute and 18 seconds better than anything Billy Mills ever ran, ranking Solinsky the third fastest in the world over 10000 during 2010, a much more competitive time period than the days when MIlls ran. Lastly, Solinsky had a better overall career, accomplishment wise, than Mills when taking into account high school, college, and professional running. To me, Solinsky's 10000 run, and his 5000's that summer, were more meaningful to United States running than Mills' Olympic run because it opened the door to U.S. born runners being competitive on the world level after over a decade of being dormant.

Are yall on crack? Comparing Chris Solinsky's 10k to Billy Mills' 10k? What a sham.

You're right, "Solinsky's 10000 run, and his 5000's that summer were more meaningful to United States running than Mill's Olympic run because it opened the door to U.S. born runners being competitive on the world level..."

Right, because "opening the door" is more meaningful than actually winning gold at the olympics. Makes perfect sense. Solinsky never actually made it to the olympics, but he accomplished more than Billy Mills. Right.

How's that crack? or is it meth?

Chris sounded a little bitter when he said that bit about not being a scrawny punk to be good. Sounds like he had a chip on his shoulder or something to prove.

Agree with both of these statements. Solinsky was impressive as hell in his day. That can't be argued. Still, it's doubtful runners will be talking about his AR in 52 years the same way we still talk about Mills' gold in Tokyo today.

The "scrawny punk" comment just makes him seem petty and disrespectful to many of his fellow elites.

What can we learn from the mistakes he made in his career? Perhaps he should have been a miler. You see that kind of mistake constantly at the college level. Some college coaches think they are all knowing.

Solinsky ran a 4:03 mile in high school. Why did they think he was done

at that distance? He was 6'1" and 165'! Chances are he could have been at 175 and been a very fast miler.

But we do not think this way in America!

This is correct. End of thread.