To this point, he has been far better at 200m than 400m, though he has not run or trained for the latter enough. 19.89 basic will make some teams and potentially even medal. If he improves with coaching that suits his strengths and weaknesses better than he's seen at Georgia (where he didn't improve much in the 100m and regressed in the 400m), a 200m team and medal would be possible. Many guys improve a lot after college. I wouldn't predict it as most likely, though. Long jump is definitely a soft event right now. At 100m, he'd have to get into the 9.8s to make a team and potentially medal and that's difficult given how he regressed this year.
Boling has a lot of name recognition because of his status as a HS “phenom” his senior year. That has carried into his career at Georgia and while he’s had some good success in the NCAA, he’s not some off-the-charts superstar. His 4x4 medal at Budapest is definitely a nice part of his resume now.
But like I said, he’s not “off the charts” or even just “head and shoulders above the rest” in the way many pros are in the NCAA just before going pro. In fact, we’re even sure what event he’s going to prioritize in his pro career, which is almost unheard of.
in my humble opinion, being a “4x4 leg” guy for worlds is not an official pro designation. If he doesn’t think he can improve to be in the top 3 in the US 400 field, he needs to pick another event where he can be.
some will say otherwise, but fundamentally it is true: the point of being a pro track athlete is to make teams. Can’t do it? Can’t be a pro.
Boling has a lot of name recognition because of his status as a HS “phenom” his senior year. That has carried into his career at Georgia and while he’s had some good success in the NCAA, he’s not some off-the-charts superstar. His 4x4 medal at Budapest is definitely a nice part of his resume now.
But like I said, he’s not “off the charts” or even just “head and shoulders above the rest” in the way many pros are in the NCAA just before going pro. In fact, we’re even sure what event he’s going to prioritize in his pro career, which is almost unheard of.
in my humble opinion, being a “4x4 leg” guy for worlds is not an official pro designation. If he doesn’t think he can improve to be in the top 3 in the US 400 field, he needs to pick another event where he can be.
some will say otherwise, but fundamentally it is true: the point of being a pro track athlete is to make teams. Can’t do it? Can’t be a pro.
I'm not really shocked that he went pro but it was unexpected for sure. I didn't see a signing this late coming. The way I saw it, at the end of the 2023 he had 3 choices:
1. Go pro. I didn't think he would because quite frankly he's not really in a place where it seems like he would/should, compared to some of the other people who have signed recently.
2. Stay at Georgia. He has another year of eligibility. Can't say Georgia has been AMAZING for him.
3. Transfer to Texas. He's from Texas, has another year of eligibility, and his roommate just transferred there.
Surprised he is good enough to go pro (?) although perhaps he isn't but he has just gotten a lot of press since the HS 100m run and so he's marketable.
He is still young but already has a world record and a world championship.
Surprised he is good enough to go pro (?) although perhaps he isn't but he has just gotten a lot of press since the HS 100m run and so he's marketable.
He is still young but already has a world record and a world championship.
If that were the case, then there would only be three pros in each event. That would be a pretty boring track meet.
Not really. Every year we see people who were just outside a team who have either made teams in the past or eventually make teams in the future. Doesn’t mean they can’t make a team—just wasn’t their year. We have decent depth in most events in the US.
what I’m saying is, if Boling is incapable of making a team in the 400 (not just a 4x4 leg), he should try something else. If a shoe signs him to run the 400, to me that indicates they think he can make a team.
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