he has said he's not really sure how seriously he's gonna take it. said motivation was a bit lacking this year. He traveled from camp to camp in preparing for this summer, and that helped keep him going at an appropriate level. So he could do a 2:30 type of thing, or he could do a 3 hour plus type thing.
Congrats on a great career. he gets a bit of flack for the 3:50, but
a) it was a brilliant strategy that most couldn't have pulled off.
b) if you don't believe in the face value of that gold medal on it's own, all those other medals and high placings should legitimize it for you
c) An olympic gold medal is an olympic gold medal. he was the best on planet earth when every other world class 1500 runner in the world was trying to peak at the exact same time.
Anyone who even looks at times in a championship- from districts to Olympic Games has not ever been a serious runner.
it's an extreme outlier, which makes it worth analyzing for historical context and future strategic planning.
I was late to work and had a sore throat due to watching and shouting at the TV for the 15 in Rio. Centro is a legender. Saw him several times at NXN when my teams qualified. Kids there absolutely loved him. He told them so many hilarious stories and gave some great advice.
Can't stand him. His smug attitude and "golden boy" reputation (well deserved, similar to Steph Curry in the NBA whose dad had him around elite level athletes and coaching his literal entire life). He got incredibly lucky in a once in a century fluke race that he would never, ever be able to duplicate.
Having said that, I've gotta give it to him, he was consistent and always knew how to put himself in the best spot to win.
Having said even that, Hocker is already better than him.
I think Centro goes out to the tune of Sinatra's "My Way". Centro knew better than anyone how to time his training to peak for the championship races. And that meant early races in his build up where the results were somewhere between head scratching and embarrassing. But as soon as everyone started saying "stick a fork in it", he would show up to USATF champs and smoke everyone.
Centro also had the smoothest kick and the best timing. His kick in 2016 looked like he was just in the middle of doing easy strides as part of his warmup. The ability to put on a full out sprint at the end of a 1500 without any tension/strain is something that very few runners can
Centro said on our podcast today what we all expected, his track career is over.
He's going to run the Chicago Marathon this fall as sort of a send off but his days on the track are over.
His career will always be known for the 2016 Olympic gold, but he also got silver in Moscow and bronze in Daegu which are almost forgotten in talking about his career.
Centro was phenomenal for a long while. He was winning Gold no matter what. You guys do realize he ran 1:44 and 13:00 (pre-super shoes), right? Everyone is jazzed about Hocker running 12:58 in super shoes and a 1:45... factoring the conversion Centro was better at 5000 without really trying and 1 second faster in the 800 and 2 seconds faster in the 1000. If Rio was a 3:30 race he still would have outkicked everyone probably. He was he fittest in the race.
This guy was the best non-convicted doper of an era. Hands down. The fact he was still relevant in 2024 while not motivated is a testament to how good he is.
Getting old sucks, but it was an awesome ride. Hopefully Cole/Yared/Kessler can take on the mantle. I think collectively they can, but time will tell.
Great podcast and I can't wait to hear the rest of it. I always loved watching Centro compete and the few times that I've been around him, he seemed to enjoy interacting with his fans.
I'll never forget watching him win Olympic gold. My roommate and I were sitting on opposite sides of our living room watching it. By the last lap, we were both standing up. In the last 100 meters we were jumping up and down and screaming in disbelief as he held on for the win. Congratulations Centro, on a great career and I wish you nothing but the best in your future endeavors.
Centro was phenomenal for a long while. He was winning Gold no matter what. You guys do realize he ran 1:44 and 13:00 (pre-super shoes), right? Everyone is jazzed about Hocker running 12:58 in super shoes and a 1:45... factoring the conversion Centro was better at 5000 without really trying and 1 second faster in the 800 and 2 seconds faster in the 1000. If Rio was a 3:30 race he still would have outkicked everyone probably. He was he fittest in the race.
This guy was the best non-convicted doper of an era. Hands down. The fact he was still relevant in 2024 while not motivated is a testament to how good he is.
Getting old sucks, but it was an awesome ride. Hopefully Cole/Yared/Kessler can take on the mantle. I think collectively they can, but time will tell.
I do really wonder how the race might've gone if it was more honest. It's hard to believe he could've won in a 3:29-3:30 race considering his PR was only a 3:30, but at the same time he was so ridiculously fit he might've still done it. I remember he closed the Trials in 1:48-1:49 to run 3:34.0 and didn't even look like he was trying, just crushed everyone the last 600.
We are lucky with the young talent we have right now for sure, but I agree it will be hard for any one runner to match Centro's level. Kessler is amazing at 21 but Centro got a world outdoor bronze at that age. Hocker and Nuguse are medal threats but by their age Centro already had two medals to his name and a near-miss in London. Hopefully we see some hardware this summer and the next.
Centro was phenomenal for a long while. He was winning Gold no matter what. You guys do realize he ran 1:44 and 13:00 (pre-super shoes), right? Everyone is jazzed about Hocker running 12:58 in super shoes and a 1:45... factoring the conversion Centro was better at 5000 without really trying and 1 second faster in the 800 and 2 seconds faster in the 1000. If Rio was a 3:30 race he still would have outkicked everyone probably. He was he fittest in the race.
This guy was the best non-convicted doper of an era. Hands down. The fact he was still relevant in 2024 while not motivated is a testament to how good he is.
Getting old sucks, but it was an awesome ride. Hopefully Cole/Yared/Kessler can take on the mantle. I think collectively they can, but time will tell.
I do really wonder how the race might've gone if it was more honest. It's hard to believe he could've won in a 3:29-3:30 race considering his PR was only a 3:30, but at the same time he was so ridiculously fit he might've still done it. I remember he closed the Trials in 1:48-1:49 to run 3:34.0 and didn't even look like he was trying, just crushed everyone the last 600.
We are lucky with the young talent we have right now for sure, but I agree it will be hard for any one runner to match Centro's level. Kessler is amazing at 21 but Centro got a world outdoor bronze at that age. Hocker and Nuguse are medal threats but by their age Centro already had two medals to his name and a near-miss in London. Hopefully we see some hardware this summer and the next.
He closed the trials final 800 in 1:51.2 according to the splits on Flashresults.com. I swear people overestimate this guy soooooo hard.
In 10 years he'll be known as a one hit wonder, flash in the pan, not the "greatest non doping athlete of all time" as others in this thread have described him.
Wasn't Centro dating Shelbo in 2021 when she got popped? Like Shelbo's former buddy Colleen Quigley who never ran a PR after 2021, he never ran a PR after 2021. Interesting, huh?
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