Hard to believe. Colin Sahlman isn't even the best non-African HSer right now. Meet Japan's Keita Sato (3:37/7:50/13:22)

The Japanese kid is obviously very good, but this is not a fair comparison for a number obvious reasons..

For sure, high similarity to Kessler and Webb and probably will be just like them. Actually, maybe not. Let the kid be great and progress at his own rate.

Worth reposting.

On a similar note, no one has ever been successful comparing themselves against less. You shoot for the highest competition in the highest league - regardless of race.

He is literally saying that africans have such fast athletes that it is not comparable. How racist of him.

Disagree, by comparing to non-Africans the suggestion is that Africans are so good and so much better that a different standard is necessary. If some Italian kid says to his Croatian friend that he thinks Italians are the best basketball players outside of the US is that somehow biased against the US or just tacit agreement that Americans dominate the sport so much that it's not worth a comparison?

Yeah, and especially bizarre since the fastest runner is European as are most of the the top 20.

Perhaps you need to dial back your own negativism. I completely interpreted that as it is not uncommon for African Youth to have screaming fast times. It never surprises me. It's not saying they aren't legit or being racist, but they are just on a different playing field and the rest of the world needs to step up their standards. Just another interpretation for perspective before hammering someone for a comment.

It's funny, for something that is such a "compliment" to African runners, it's convenient how "Non African" paves the way to withhold any African athlete from the conversation. So, who are the AFRICAN athletes who are faster than Colin Sahlman? Where's that thread?

So another story to help you understand. The New York Times has their little bestseller lists right? Well for years books at the top of that list were always books that were philosophical, intelligent and meant just for the elitist adult crowd that read the New York Times. Then a series called Harry Potter came along, you might have heard of it. Harry Potter, of course is a children's series, but it absolutely DOMINATED the New York Times bestseller list. Nothing could compete. So what did the times do? They actually separated the lists! They created a children's list and an adults list. This was not a compliment Harry Potter. It was a way to get Harry Potter off their precious list so the number one book would be something THEY deemed sophisticated enough to belong there. So even though Harry Potter blew everyone out of the water consistently, it was moved from the list.

That's how I see Non African. I see it as creating a separate list. One filled with athletes who look just like us, and act like us so we can celebrate them without the distractions of athletes that don't look like us.

The thing is, it actually IS comparable. There are SEVERAL Non African athletes who have won global medals, and have mixed in with the best of them. That's why Non African is so ridiculous.

Sato ran 3:37 as a junior, Kessler ran a 4:08 mile as a junior.

Also Christensen and Ibler didn't get in a fast 1500, and I think Ibler ran 3:44 when he was 16 or something, they sure both can go 3:40.

Totally agree. It's BS because it's trying to make excuses by claiming East Africans have this insurmountable advantage by being born and living at altitude. Yes, it is an advantage, but guess what, American and European athletes have just as big advantages that Africans don't have. Just look at facilities available in the US versus (e.g. Kenya). I think there are just two tartan tracks in the whole of Kenya only one of which is public. In the US, there are thousands available even for high school kids. Access to rehab facilities is basically reserved for very top pros in Ethiopia and Kenya if they exist at all, whereas in the US, every college kid has access to physios and gyms. The pro level is also much more cutthroat in Africa. A 28 minute 10k guy in the US can get a pro contract and train to try and reach their potential. A 28 minute 10k guy in Ethiopia gives up and drives a taxi because he knows there's no chance of winning prize money, and certainly no chance of sponsorship. Then there's equipment. US high school kids get to run in top quality spikes whereas young Kenyans will have some second hand trainers if they're lucky.

So, don't tell me East Africans are advantaged. US and European athletes have amazing advantages that Africans can only dream about. Don't diminish the accomplishments of Africans by suggesting it's just something they are born with; they earn it just like everyone else

Ibler's 3:44 is from 2020, but he hasn't run faster since and he has run in some good 1500m races. His 1500m results from 2021 were: 3:48/3:46/DNF/DNF. So it's not like he hasn't run the event in a while and you can automatically assume a big PB.

Christensen's 13:44 from last summer was in a fast race that he finished 7th in. I have no doubt that he'll keep improving though. His win at Monaco was very impressive, so I would agree that he could drop that track time. However, we could say the same for Sahlman running his 3200 alone.

Regardless, I don't think anyone can say that the two danish runners are better than Sahlman. The results show that Sahlman and Ibler are more or less equal and a bit better than Christensen on the track right now.

Christensen absolutely crushed the field at Eurocross:

Teammate Lilleso was third and Griggs a disappointed 16th. No Ibler.

I don't think Griggs should have been disappointed. 16th when he was age 16 is a good result. There were guys in that race three years older than him and he can run the up race for three more years.

you realize Joel Ibler IS Lilleso right?

The kidza monster's monster, yikes hez gonna mop up everybody. The kidz nothing but a slayer.

The announcer did indeed kildzit. Fine British commentary is like good wine but a tad conventional. Insanity-infused samurai commentary is the new spike shoe in athletics reporting but is anyone noticing?

In the interview, he was saying that he wasn’t that fast in 5th grade— 4:37 1500m & 2:22 800m— and that he didn’t start working on his running form into junior high school. (This made me giggle as I’m not sure some of our pros ever practice their form.) His high school training regimen is fairly typical, about 20km/day.

In the interview, he was saying that he wasn’t that fast in 5th grade— 4:37 1500m & 2:22 800m— and that he didn’t start working on his running form into junior high school. (This made me giggle as I’m not sure some of our pros ever practice their form.) His high school training regimen is fairly typical, about 20km/day. Oh, and he seems genuinely scared of his coach.

How many F-ing names does this cat have?

I've changed the title as he's lowered his 5000 pb to 13:22.91.