Urbaneteacher wrote:
So I’m a moron. Fine.
But if he was such a talent, what the hell happened? Lagat goes on to 3:26 and a bunch of medals, Abdi run 27:16 and 2:08... Goucher musters a 6th at World XC and that’s it... and besides crying on the 5,000 Meters dvd, he never runs fast again.
No, my hypothesis is that he was elevated to the pedestal he currently sits on by the book/author which idolized him.
If I’m picking the 25 best collegiate XC/Track runners of the last 25 years, his name doesn’t make the cut.
If I’m picking the best 25 distance runners only by professional careers of the last 25 years, his name still isn’t there.
The book made his legacy, not his running.
The book didn't make his legacy. He made it. He's one of 4 Americans to ever have won Footlocker and NCAA xc. Torres, Ritzenhein, Goucher and Kennedy. That's it, right?
It blows my mind that it sounds like you'd rather be a 13:02 pro like Ben True than Goucher, simply because True ran faster. The fact of the matter is Goucher twice one the race every single guy he was racing wanted to win. Plus Goucher got PAID a ton by Fila when he came out.
He wasn't that great as a pro because he got hurt a lot.
You act like Abdi has done all sorts of crap at the international level. Do you not realize that Goucher 4 times made a global championship final at 5000 (3 Worlds/1 Olympics)?
And do you realize that Goucher according to Tilastopaja owns him 6-3 lifetime in head to head matchups against Abdi? I imagine they are missing some but here is what they have:
Abdi Abdirahman USA Adam Goucher USA
3000m Peregrine Stanford CA 2001-06-09 7:47.63 (7) 7:40.34 (2)
5000m Pre Eugene OR 2003-05-24 13:37.96 (9) 13:35.77 (8)
3000m Oracle Stanford CA 2003-06-07 7:56.59 (9) 7:48.72 (4)
5000m NC Stanford CA 2003-06-20 13:43.81 (7) 13:35.67 (2)
5000m NA Heusden 2003-08-02 13:23.25 (10) 13:49.57 (21)
3000m adidas Carson CA 2005-05-22 8:04.05 (8) 8:07.58 (9)
5000m Norw Union London 2006-07-28 13:18.89 (10) 13:15.94 (9)
Cross Country 12.0km NC Boulder CO 2007-02-10 39:07A (21) 37:35A (2)
10,000m NC Eugene OR 2008-07-04 27:41.89 (1) 27:59.31 (7)
Wins: 3 6
And you don't think Goucher is one of the top 25 US pros of the last 25 years? I bet he is. Globabally, of course not. But maybe for the US.