Nijel Amos is DONE!!!

It seems like quite a lot of athletes in OTC are not doing well, does anyone know why this is the case?

Agreed.

Harrier98 wrote:

It seems like quite a lot of athletes in OTC are not doing well, does anyone know why this is the case?

Because it’s not the Oregon Project or Bowerman ??‍♂️

Harrier98 wrote:

It seems like quite a lot of athletes in OTC are not doing well, does anyone know why this is the case?

Long sprint type athletes that get thrown to an endurance focused program.

He was struggling for years. Then he moved to Oregon last year and finally had a solid season. If anything, OTC helped him.

TheHarshTruth wrote:

He made the detrimental mistake of going to OTC. People should know by now to steer clear of that wing nut of a coach Rowland.

Not sure how can say that when he's doing ok so far this year. Btw, none of these African 800m phenoms are never the age they state. In Africa, the age thing is all a joke. Nijel Amos ran 1:41x in 2012 supposedly at age 18 and that is still his PR. Like Amos, Abraham Kipchirchir Rotich ran 1:43x in 2012 at age 18 and 6 years later that's still his PR. An extreme example is Belal Mansoor Ali, he ran 1:44.34 supposedly at age 15 and 10 years later at age 25 and what should have been his peak, he was running 1:50x.

Between 2011 and 2012 all these athletes ran 1:44 or better in their teens and are barely still in the sport. For example:

David Mutinda Mutua SB 1:52.62

Mohammed Aman SB 1:47.04

Leonard Kirwa Kosencha SB 1:47.82

Timothy Kitum SB 1:49.54

Edwin Kiplagat Melly managed 1:48.74 last year

I am almost certain all of these athletes were in their mid to late-20s when the competed in World Youth and World Junior competitions when they were supposedly in their teens. Long story short, Nijel Amos could possibly be in his mid-30s and past his prime. Same thing for Kitum, Aman and all of the others.

ClonedDuck wrote:

Harrier98 wrote:

It seems like quite a lot of athletes in OTC are not doing well, does anyone know why this is the case?

Long sprint type athletes that get thrown to an endurance focused program.

Well said. Ask Charles Jock about that.

That is one of the best explanations I have heard. I absolutely agree, I raced a Kenyan that was supposedly 24 but when he graduated it was crazy how his name changed and his birthdate suddenly changed to make him 4 years older. It is very unfair to Juniors but unfortunately is the norm for certain countries.

Old Man 2 Lapper wrote:

That is one of the best explanations I have heard. I absolutely agree, I raced a Kenyan that was supposedly 24 but when he graduated it was crazy how his name changed and his birthdate suddenly changed to make him 4 years older. It is very unfair to Juniors but unfortunately is the norm for certain countries.

Perhaps the biggest injustice is to the true African junior athletes, who could be a high school superstar, but you will never get to compete in junior competition because their country chooses to send an adult instead. Since world juniors is where most agents sign African athletes, true juniors are missing out on an opportunity for a pro career.

There are like one or two people who post under different handles that must have calendar reminders to start a thread every X days on how much they hate OTC. It's pathetic.

Old Man 2 Lapper wrote:

That is one of the best explanations I have heard. I absolutely agree, I raced a Kenyan that was supposedly 24 but when he graduated it was crazy how his name changed and his birthdate suddenly changed to make him 4 years older. It is very unfair to Juniors but unfortunately is the norm for certain countries.

Amos looked 18 in that London race. He could have been 17.

TrackCoach wrote:

Old Man 2 Lapper wrote:

That is one of the best explanations I have heard. I absolutely agree, I raced a Kenyan that was supposedly 24 but when he graduated it was crazy how his name changed and his birthdate suddenly changed to make him 4 years older. It is very unfair to Juniors but unfortunately is the norm for certain countries.

Perhaps the biggest injustice is to the true African junior athletes, who could be a high school superstar, but you will never get to compete in junior competition because their country chooses to send an adult instead. Since world juniors is where most agents sign African athletes, true juniors are missing out on an opportunity for a pro career.

Why can't they wait until their mid-20's to compete at World Juniors like the others who kept them out of the team? Endless cycle of deception. How does the supposedly advanced West keep falling for this is the real mystery.

hatehatehatehate wrote:

There are like one or two people who post under different handles that must have calendar reminders to start a thread every X days on how much they hate OTC. It's pathetic.

How can anyone support/like a program that destroys athletes? It seems that it's where an athlete's career goes to die.

Mountain West wrote:

hatehatehatehate wrote:

There are like one or two people who post under different handles that must have calendar reminders to start a thread every X days on how much they hate OTC. It's pathetic.

How can anyone support/like a program that destroys athletes? It seems that it's where an athlete's career goes to die.

I'd say that Blankenship and Mead have had good careers.

Nijel has run decent this year. To start this thread in order to take another shot at OTC is pathetic.

Nijel Amos was second at PreFontaine. How is he finished.

There are probably only two athletes who can beat Amos this year.

hatehatehatehate wrote:

Mountain West wrote:

How can anyone support/like a program that destroys athletes? It seems that it's where an athlete's career goes to die.

I'd say that Blankenship and Mead have had good careers.

Nijel has run decent this year. To start this thread in order to take another shot at OTC is pathetic.

I certainly didn't start the thread; but looking at the statistics, 2-3out of 10-15 is not the best of results. In my somewhat educated opinion on the subject, the team culture is its kryptonite: less than professional, partying, and a non-serious attitude that you'll see the polar opposite with a group like Bowerman or Sang's in Kaptagat. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Mountain West wrote:

hatehatehatehate wrote:

I'd say that Blankenship and Mead have had good careers.

Nijel has run decent this year. To start this thread in order to take another shot at OTC is pathetic.

I certainly didn't start the thread; but looking at the statistics, 2-3out of 10-15 is not the best of results. In my somewhat educated opinion on the subject, the team culture is its kryptonite: less than professional, partying, and a non-serious attitude that you'll see the polar opposite with a group like Bowerman or Sang's in Kaptagat. You'll just have to take my word for it.

I didn't take the time to think through my Rolodex of the team roster, but just gave enough examples in my mind to refute the claim that you made that it's just where "athlete's careers go to die".

Francine has run well. Sally has had success under Rowland. There have been plenty of examples of careers not ending.

hatehatehatehate wrote:

Mountain West wrote:

I certainly didn't start the thread; but looking at the statistics, 2-3out of 10-15 is not the best of results. In my somewhat educated opinion on the subject, the team culture is its kryptonite: less than professional, partying, and a non-serious attitude that you'll see the polar opposite with a group like Bowerman or Sang's in Kaptagat. You'll just have to take my word for it.

I didn't take the time to think through my Rolodex of the team roster, but just gave enough examples in my mind to refute the claim that you made that it's just where "athlete's careers go to die".

Francine has run well. Sally has had success under Rowland. There have been plenty of examples of careers not ending.

Hey, look...believe what you want. That's totally up to you. Unfortunately, I can assure you that your opinion is in the minority, especially amongst people that are very closely associated with the sport. Lots of tombstones in the OTCElite graveyard:

Wheating

JMac

Brown

Farrell

Aman

Fleet

O'lionaird

Jock

Abda

Mulder

Praught (great example of getting out early)

Casey (hope its not too late)

Greer

Reid

...Etc

He did look young and I never said anything specifically about him. I like to watch him run and have my own opinion about the program, which I didn't comment on.

What I commented on was the reply that was given and said it was a good explanation, then gave personal facts of my experience to back up why. Also, when I ran Juniors I had a birth certificate so "could have been 17" reinforces what goes on. Thank you for making everyone else's point.