How come there aren't *super* fast highschoolers

Those 17/18 year olds for the most part are from East Africa and are actually closer to 21-24 years old.

There

Stop baiting bro.

the difference wrote:

Those 17/18 year olds for the most part are from East Africa and are actually closer to 21-24 years old.

There

You are good at fishing wrote:

Stop baiting bro.

the difference wrote:

Those 17/18 year olds for the most part are from East Africa and are actually closer to 21-24 years old.

There

Actually, ignoring that OP was probably trolling about age cheats from other countries in the distance events, this question can still be answered seriously:

The US does in fact have high schoolers going to the Olympics this year, as has been covered quite extensively. Sydney McLaughlin has gotten lots of coverage, since she is an American high school girl who made the team for Rio.

Moreover, there were a number of high schoolers at the trials who would have made the Olympics if they were from many other countries that don't have the depth of the US.

For example, the US had two high school girls in the 100m hurdles who would have made the Rio team for almost any other country (both ran sub 13).

Likewise, we had two high school boys run times in the 200 that would have qualified for Rio in almost any other country.

So to answer your question, the US sends fewer high school athletes to the Olympics than some other countries because we have such greater depth in many events that it is extremely rare for an athlete to be so dominant that they make the Olympic team until they reach their prime, because they are competing against the largest pool of exceptional athletes in the world.

Ok thanks and no I wasn't trolling I was just wondering.

the difference wrote:

Those 17/18 year olds for the most part are from East Africa and are actually closer to 21-24 years old.

There

Which 17-18 year olds are on Kenya and Ethiopia's teams?

A few of our US HS kids run in the Olympics for their respective countries of birth.

1. Vashti Cunningham is a world champion.

2. More competition--it's pretty hard to make the best track team in the world.

3. Check the just-finished World Junior Champs--plenty of US high schoolers in there, a few who walked away with hardware. I would classify Michael Norman, the Lyles brothers, and Candace Hall as "super" fast. And Mary Cain a couple years ago. Donavan Brazier's season may be over and he's a year out of high school, but 1:43.55 isn't too shabby for a 19-year-old.

the difference wrote:

Those 17/18 year olds for the most part are from East Africa and are actually closer to 21-24 years old.

There

Actually, it is more likely that they are closer to 15/16 years old.

kimani wrote:

1. Vashti Cunningham is a world champion.

2. More competition--it's pretty hard to make the best track team in the world.

3. Check the just-finished World Junior Champs--plenty of US high schoolers in there, a few who walked away with hardware. I would classify Michael Norman, the Lyles brothers, and Candace Hall as "super" fast. And Mary Cain a couple years ago. Donavan Brazier's season may be over and he's a year out of high school, but 1:43.55 isn't too shabby for a 19-year-old.

Historically the US team has had a few famous high school age competitors. Bob Mathias was one, Wilma Rudolph made the 56' team and was on the relay team. Like other posters have said with teams that are generally as deep as the US teams traditionally are it's very, very tough to make the team.

Sahdude wrote:

Ok thanks and no I wasn't trolling I was just wondering.

That is hard to believe. If what you say is true, why were you so sure that highschoolers weren't making Olympic/pro teams?

I knew there were some, for some reason I just felt like there were more olympic youngsters from other countries. Anyways a little research pays a long way.

Sahdude wrote:

Like how come other countries are having 17 or 18 year olds compete in the olympics while us Americans aren't. Do high school coaches hold back our runners?

Sydney Mclaughlin

Sahdude wrote:

Like how come other countries are having 17 or 18 year olds compete in the olympics while us Americans aren't. Do high school coaches hold back our runners?

Even if they were good enough at that age, why would you send such a young athlete to the Olympics?

That's as solid of a response as you can get to answer a thread question.