Would you rather have Nick Symmonds' career or Donavan Brazier's career?

It’s about medals. Nick went head to head with Aman in the 800 2013 final, he had his chance to win but got beaten on the home stretch on a kick from behind, getting silver. Brazier is the 2019 world Champion.

Nick went with Maggie Vessey for a while. That kind of seals it.

Meh. I’ve slept with hot women. I’ve not been a World Champion.

Symmonds has the satisfaction of knowing he got 99.99% out of his body and held his own in the greatest race in history in the hardest track event. He also charmed my ex girlfriend at a Run Gum promotional event in 2015.

Brazier, who never talked to any of my ex girlfriends, has to wake up every day with the knowledge that he likely has the potential to be the 800m GOAT, but is still not in Seb Coe territory, never mind Rudisha territory.

Both are avid fishermen.

Its a toss up. Both great careers as an athlete it is probably easier to go out on your own terms rather than having your career completely axed by an injury you cant recover from

Brazier but Ill always respect Symmonds for getting the most out of his limited talent

I like the Longevity example Eliud Kipchoge's Marathon World Record will eventually be broken, But it is Amazing he set the Mararathon WR 19 Years AFTER he beat EL G and K. Bekele who were thought to be the 2 Best maybe ever ata age 18 at the World Chanpionships that is more Amaing, another Example Warholm has the 400 WR but it is unlikely he will win over 100 races in a row, FloJo STILL has the4 World Records, but Evelyn Ashford was Great fore over a Decade,Steve Scott was near the top for a long time and was very consitent, Alan Webb was ver inconsistent and only ran a few good races as a PRO, but his best time was better Than Scotts was, it is all what you prefer, Most like the Flash in the Pan that disappears quickly, I think Longevity at an extremely high level is underrated in talking about greatness, I take longevity

hmm...Could be one of the best of all time D3 athletes who went on to run in the greatest race of all time (London '12, of course). Yes, the greatest race of ALL TIME, and he had a front (errr...fifth?) row seat. Won a WC medal. Actually somehow rose to mainstream fame from being a USA mid-d runner? Seriously, the 800. a few years ago someone in my work running group said something about Nick - you generally don't have ANY interest in mid-D from the hobby jogger set, but NS is a household name apparenty! Sort of-not really-dated Paris Hilton. Actually dated Maggie Vessey (did I remember that right?).

That Dairy Queen guy from Michigan is probably a nice enough fellow. And a WC gold is the 2nd most coveted prize in the sport. Would be more impressive to win a title while not part of a controversial group with a constant cloud of doping suspicions always looming.

Anyway, I'd never want to be someone other than myself but if you forced me to choose between these two, it's not a particularly tough choice. Maybe if the NOP(e) guy came with a Olympic Gold it'd be a touch tougher. Still...

Which one has a college degree? I'll go with that one for having the best career.

You dont need a college degree to have a successful career, as both of them prove

I think that Brazier had a more accomplished career, but Symmonds career was a success while Braziers didn’t live up to the talent he had.

Donavan Brazier is the most talented American middle distance runner of all time. He could relay split sub 46, run a 4:07 1600m, and even split a 1:48 in high school off of light unserious training and raw talent. He broke 1:46 indoors in his first college race ever and ran 1:43 as a freshman. All of this in a year when he was struggling with injuries and inconsistent with training. Ran a 3:35 with a 52 last lap while never having run more than 8 miles consecutively in his life.

Brazier is easily more talented than Ryun, Webb, Centro, Symmonds, Duane Solomon, Johnny Gray any of them. The fact that he’s not an Olympian or 1:41 guy would be like Nick Symmonds ending his career as a 1:45 800m runner.

If Nick Symmmonds career includes his wife, then I'd opt for him. But, I have to admit that I haven't seen Brazier's significant other.

Symmonds had a relatively long career, Olympic finals, world finals and a silver. He traveled Europe on someone else's dime.

Brazier- will he ever comeback? It seems he rarely races.

Symmonds is my answer but I could see choosing Brazier

Who has made the most money? Who has the most reach? Who has the most impact?

I'll go with Symmonds. He has 1 million subscribers and is making a full time living from YouTube. Doing stuff like this:

Alan

WC gold maybe (vs olympic gold for sure)? I dont know if WC gold all by itself is enough. Nick has one of the fastest times in olympic history which was in a race which unfortunately has most of the other fastest times in history, so no medal. But that's trivia I guess. Maybe I still take WC gold. Its a good question. Nick had some heartbreakers and a better career. Would have olympic gold or silver in almost any other olympics. If I recall his wc silver was close too, to a guy he beats normally. But WC gold is forever I guess.

Not even close? Hows that?

It is not often mentioned, that Symmonds was slightly behind another American - Duane Solomon in that OG final.

Gold shines brighter than a longer IAAF profile or wikipedia entry. Brazier.

I’ll take the career of Johnny Gray over those two guys…