Interesting...Him and Jerry were pretty tight + he was a big Shelby supporter...
Interesting...Him and Jerry were pretty tight + he was a big Shelby supporter...
VictoryAthletics wrote:
Grass isn't always greener. GDS leaves and has spent the last 2 seasons more injured than she ever was at BTC. Let's just face it, running at the pro level is often living on a razors edge.
Honestly GDS and her injuries dont exonerate Jerry but probably reflect on BTC somewhat. She got a sacral stress fracture 6 weeks after leaving BTC. You don't injure your sacrum in 6 weeks - you certainly don't ruin your bone density so bad that it takes *over a year* to recover from in 6 weeks either. That stuff is months or even years in the making.
She's been open that her mileage jumped from 40mpw with Andy Young to 70-75mpw first year then 80-90mpw 2nd year at BTC. Those mileage jumps are reckless and when I heard her say that to Citius Mag I was worried she'd pay a price for it.
I see lots of people saying we can't blame Jerry for how Duncan Hamilton and Charles Hicks ran this weekend since they've been with the team for such a short amount of time. If one of them announced a bone injury this week that took 1yr + to recover would that be Schumacher's fault or Stanford/Montana?
I'm sure many people would run with that as an excuse to hate on BTC but that would be unfair in my opinion.
Her sacral injury, by her own admission, was also informed by a longstanding thyroid condition.
RRRR wrote:
My guess is Karissa and Grant are out after this year. Who else ya got?
This is silly. Unless Nike lowballs either or both to re-sign, they’re not leaving. In fact, their contracts probably don’t end until Dec ‘24 at the earliest. And one bad season shouldn’t leave them devastated, kids.
Kate grace left BTC, not nike. Emily left BTC, not nike. Centro left BTC, not nike. woody left BTC, not nike.
it seems there's precedent for leaving BTC but not having to leave nike.
Cooper is talented but flighty and immature. Unless he purchased a house in Eugene, he has no reason to stay. He has not sounded too committed and has not put in the time to build loyalty. He and his girlfriend can head out to Flag and take hypebeast and OOTD flics in a new setting.
I don’t know where the athletes would go if they leave BTC though. It seems that Mike Smith doesn’t want to take on more pro athletes and OAC doesn’t want more Americans competing against people already on the team. UAC has had some issues this year and not as much success at 5k/10k so I don’t see them going there either. Maybe team boss would take Karissa? Maybe switch to Puma and run with Allistar Craig?
Stanhope wrote:
exactly, but on the other hand: why is it working with Mike Smith? Location (altitude, situation where athletes sign up to compared to a coach that is available anymore)
Nonetheless, I think BTC didn't rejuvenate early enough. Bringing in Hicks won't do anything for US teams as he's a Brit (just like Ahmed runs for Canada). You see it happen in almost any teamsport where they stick with the old (winning) team (football, bb, soccer).
It is sad to see Nike's no 1 team in recent years crumble from a certain amount of US team qualifiers to hardly anyone in the distances. UAC, Nike's 2nd team/mid-distance squad got a few, but other teams/coaches got their fair pair of the US teams slots.
Would be nice to see if a comparison of the teams/traininggroups over the last few WC/OG teams, to see any shifts.
I would guess it's the personalized training Smith does coupled with the benefit of altitude and attitude. Nur clearing states in his post race interview his training is personalized to his needs. The team also seems to have FUN. An easier atmosphere of hard work but fun, easy going friends around you at 7k feet. Winning combination.
Shelby is back January 2024, so their women’s squad will be fine. Her and Cranny will help bring more recruits.
Why do people think BTC is an American training group? It isn't. It's a Nike training group based in the States. Nike sells shoes worldwide.
Nike Mike wrote:
Shelby is back January 2024, so their women’s squad will be fine. Her and Cranny will help bring more recruits.
Correction: Shelby's ban lifts on January 13, 2025.
However . . . I don't know if this is accurate . . . someone posted awhile ago that a banned athlete can resume training with a team 6 months prior to the ban being lifted.
If so, we could see Shelby resume training w/BTC next July 13th . . . just as the team is preparing for the Paris Olympics which open two weeks later . . .
If this does happen, the mental image of Shelby pacing Elise & Karissa through their final hard track sessions before Paris will send many posters here to their early grave . . .
What rules? Shelby never stopped training with the team.
RRRR wrote:
My guess is Karissa and Grant are out after this year. Who else ya got?
Vanessa before them.
As far as I know, no Mike Smith athletes have ever pooped on the Sedona track.