Or did you mean Joey Bunch?
Or did you mean Joey Bunch?
disc rat wrote:
Yeah, I just always was amazed to see an 800 meter like him who systematically almost always stayed in last place thru the first 500 meters of the race.
If I recall Juantorena may have also had this style too ??
Juanteran was more of a front runner trying, like Gray, and tried to basically run the steam out of those willing to stay on his heels. After all, he had low 44 second 400m speed, so going through in 49-50 seconds at the lap was no big deal, but it was to others who had p.r.s in the 46-48 range.
I'm glad to see this thread. As I recall, Robinson dominated the 800 in the U.S. for quite a while, but didn't get much press back then, and gets virtually no recognition now.
I recall that James trained on the hill trails in Oakland. Plus, he did 1100m reps, an odd distance, as a staple.
I think Robinson would possibly have placed 3rd in the 1980 Olympic 800m because it was totally a kicker's race with the second lap at 50 point; Ovett winning. President Carter's boycott screwed over a lot of great athletes. Steve Scott would have been there too, just to name one fellow.
I can envision JR running the last 100m. He may have been the best at it I have ever seen. He looked like he was running the 400m, not the 800m.
Born 8/27/54, competed at 5'10"/145 lbs
Year...Best mark...World Rank...US rank...Major meet results
1974...1:45.7...9...2...3)AAU
1975...1:48.4...x...x...?
1976...1:45.86..11..2...2)Oly Trials
1977...1:45.9...11..4...?
1978...1:45.5...4...2...1)AAU, 1)Weltklasse (beat El Caballo)
1979...1:44.7...3...1...1)AAU, 4)Weltklasse, 2)World Cup
1980...1:45.37..5...2...1)TAC, 2)Oly Trials, 6)Weltklasse
1981...1:44.63..2...1...1)TAC, 1)Weltklasse, 2)World Cup
1982...1:44.72..3...1...1)TAC, 3)Weltklasse
1983...1:44.32..6...2...3)TAC, 5)World Ch
1984...1:43.92..9...3...1)TAC, 4)Oly Trials
Martin-x wrote:
I think he wound up finishing fifth of sixth to Rob Druppers' gold.
And he's responsible for one of my favourite athletics-related quotes of all-time ... when asked if he was planning on moving up from the 800, he replied: "No way, that mile's too long, man."
Martin
He was 5th in the final. Willi Wulbeck of West Germany won in 1:43.65, Druppers was second, Cruz 3rd.
And I wholeheartedly agree - the mile IS too long.
mrr82 wrote:
Amazing thing is he ran 1:43.92 and only took 4th at the Olympic trials not making the team. 143.92 back in 84' only taking 4th at a national meet with heats? They must have had some excellent testing going on then huh...Nike West did wonders.
Let's see. Jones (winner) was at EMU. Gray (2nd) was with SMTC. Marshall (3rd) was at 'nova. Robinson (4th) was with Bay Area Striders. None was associated with Nike West.
Ghost of Ashenfelter wrote:
Let's see. Jones (winner) was at EMU. Gray (2nd) was with SMTC. Marshall (3rd) was at 'nova. Robinson (4th) was with Bay Area Striders. None was associated with Nike West.
No one had to be with Nike West, they taught coaches adn ahtletes how to get away with cheating, not just ones under them. It was the only way to beat the Germans and Russians ect.
4 guys under 144 after running heats and not even at the olympics? please....Why do you think 144 is so hard to beat now even though the world record is 141.1. It's not really that unobvious.
I ran in a 1500 race at Cal Berkeley's stadium and he was right with me, near the back of the pack with 300 yards to go, he then systematically picked off each runner in front of him and won in like 3:46 or so. That was around 1980. I ended up around 3:57. He had a awesome kick.
mrr82 wrote:
4 guys under 144 after running heats and not even at the olympics? please....Why do you think 144 is so hard to beat now even though the world record is 141.1. It's not really that unobvious.
it just so happened that the best collective u.s. 800 talent was in that race. johnny gray is one of the great 800 guys ever - u.s. or world.
earl jones: many people consider him the greatest u.s. middle distance talent.
john marshall: ran 1:47 in high school.
these guys were studs.
1:44 is so hard to run now because there is no one to push the pace. competition rises to beat the top athletes. no one is scared of anyone in the 800 anymore.
Slack ran 1:46! No wonder he beat me ...
Hey Keg....what was your best time in the 800 when you ran?when and where ?
One Keg wrote:
He was a UC-Berkeley grad. JR coached there in the mid-1990s too and the guy was an animal.
disc rat wrote:
Yeah, I just always was amazed to see an 800 meter like him who systematically almost always stayed in last place thru the first 500 meters of the race.
If I recall Juantorena may have also had this style too ??
I think you're thinking of Paul Ereng. Ereng was diffenatly one of the best athletes I've ever seen run. He could cover the distance between last and first at will.
correctness wrote:
I think you're thinking of Paul Ereng. Ereng was diffenatly one of the best athletes I've ever seen run. He could cover the distance between last and first at will.
no, robinson was well known for his tendency to go straight to the back and close hard. on my tapes of the 83 world the announcers make light of it a few times.
We need more guys like James Robinson in athletics. Everyone's so professional now, there are no more eccentrics like him. Still remember that cool vertically-striped singlet of his.
Yes, I used to run against James Robinson, he was ranked near the top of USA 800 meter running for about 15 years. He had a running style very similar to 1972 Olympic Gold medalist Dave Wottle in that he would stay off the pace, ad come with a withering kick the last 150 meters. He passed me late in the 1974 TAC Championships where I ran 1:46.00 and he ran 1:45.2 I believe. His PR I think was just under 1:44.00.
Old thread, I know.
disc rat wrote:
Yeah he ran in the late 70s and early to mid 80s.
A black guy who always came from last place and had a tremendous kick last lap.
Tried to put his name in search engine but not results.
Anyone remember him and know what he is doing now ??
Are you f*cking kidding me? What search engine did you use?? Pretty simple kid.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=James+Robinson+800+metersHere is the 1984 Men's Olympic trial 800m final.
Beaver Retriever wrote:
Are you f*cking kidding me? What search engine did you use?? Pretty simple kid.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=James+Robinson+800+meters
You are responding to a post from 2005.
Pretty simple to figure that out.